Once Bitten, Twice Shy
by lifelesslyndsey
Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indisisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other. PeterXBella. Lang
1. Catpire

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 1/?

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 3,425

Disclaimer: I own nothing

HOT FOR BETA! Give love to my girl Magos186!

**A/N Okay, this is my new PeterxBella story, also known to me as Pella. It will not update frequently, just to warn you. Peter is a vampire and Bella is jaded and medicated. I should warn you, Bella is quite non-cannon. She's bitchy, irritable, and lost. Reviews are always welcomed, and often replied. Feel free to ask questions, I love questions. There will be two POV's in this story, so if that bugs you, back away.**

**I cuss like a sailor. Seriously. I openly admit to my over use of the word Fuck. It's like a balm to me. So, beware of swearing.**

**And if you happen to be under the age of 18, I bid you farewell, for this story is not for you.**

**Peterpire POV**

Rainy Seattle.

Hello home.

I sat on the ceiling changing light bulbs in my newly purchased house. It was a two story Victorian, much larger than I ever needed, but on a huge hill on the north side of a spacious gated community full of unfriendly neighbors. Just the way I liked them.

Unfortunately, the realtor failed to mention the previous owner, for lack of a better word, collected cats. Not cat figurines or bobble heads; not cat sweaters or calendars, but mass quantities of outside, tree and lawn cats. Some people had gnomes or flamingos. I had cats. I was now the cat lady. A flock, a pack, a pride, what ever you a call cluster fuck of fluffy kittens. If my War brothers could see me now....

Never in my life have I resented the fact I had no scent until the moment I traipsed my sparkly ass up the walkway, parting cats like Moses and the Red sea. Had it been any other Vampire, they would have fled in fucking terror. However, I had no scent, no little boost that sent there flight-or-fight gene into overdrive. Well, I needed friends. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess.

Maybe I should just eat them.

After briefly considering my front lawn as a vampire vegetable garden, I hopped down from the ceiling, shrugging my shoulders at my pathetic life. Seattle was supposed to be a fresh start. All I had was a gigantic empty house and living lawn ornaments. Maybe I could eat the IKEA delivery men tomorrow. Fucking cats.

They demanded that I feed them.

I had been intent to leave them to starve, but they wouldn't shut the fuck up. Mass cat murder crossed my mind, but I couldn't help but take into account that they had been here first, had staked the prior claim. Bitching and groaning, I waded through the seventeen overly friendly, under-fed, flea-bitten, outside law and tree cats, to my car.

So it was that I came to stand in an aisle dedicated entirely to cats. Not just cat food, but cat toys and cat litter and cat clothing and bedding and a bunch of fucking bullshit.

Mother fucking decisions.

There's that free will thing again.

Sigh.

Who would have thought there would be twenty different kinds of dry cat food to choose from? I don't even want to acknowledge the notion of wet cat food. We are just not fucking going there. I already look like a mother fucking tool standing in the isle staring at the cat food for twenty minutes. I was a grown ass man. A grown ass vampire. I should just eat the cats and be done with it. Then again, those cats eat this crap, so they can't taste that good. I'll stick to humans.

Shit, what is the fricking difference? Iams, Purina, mother fucking Kitty Bits and Shits? It's all ground up animal bones and corn meal anyways. If this is how it's going to be, my little fucking cats can just eat each other. This could develop into Mad Cat disease. We could create a cat epidemic, seriously reducing the cat population by means of plague. Big guy does it all the time. I could be the Cat God.

These were the things I contemplated when fate changed the page I was reading from the Big Book. Her voice would change everything. A new path had been set, an option. A choice. There was that free will thing again. Fuck my life.

"Mother fucking Vampires. In Wal-Mart of all places."

~*~*~*~*~

The words were uttered in a breath, but I heard them. In a knee-jerk reaction my head snapped to the source, a little brown eyed girl holding a box of strawberry pop-tarts. She stared me down, and didn't even blink. Who is this human? How the fuck does she know about vampires. Why isn't she scared? Should I eat her?

What the hell do I do now?

As if she could read my mind, she shrugged, dropped her pop tarts into her cart and strutted off like she didn't just have a five minute staring contest with a dangerous mythological creature. I was momentarily stunned, so much so that I grabbed two bags of the nearest cat food, which might as well have been Kitty Bit's and Shits, and headed for the check out.

She's was in the next line to me, and paid me no fucking mind; nothing, not even a glance or a wink. The way her mouth was moving, I was almost certain she was whistling show tunes…Andy Griffith from the sound of it. All I could do was stare at her with the meanest expression I could muster and try to force some fear into the tiny human.

Fear me. Fear me. Fear me.

Jedi mind trick.

This is not the vampire you are looking for.

Nothing.

This got me no where, she was absolutely fucking absurd. Little human turned to me, smiled, and blew a big pink bubble with her gum before tossing her things on the conveyer belt.

What the fuck?

**Bella-Poo POV**

"Get out of the house," she said. "It will be good for you," she said. "The past is the past," they said. My therapist is an ass hole.

If the past was the past, why have I spent the last five minutes holding a box of pop tarts and watching a vampire stare at cat food? I'm not entirely sure what a vampire would do with cat food. Does he have a cat? Maybe he likes to play with his food before he eats it. Then again, he could be a people-eater. I'm not really sure. Who fucking knows? I know that this vampire looks pretty irritated, looking back and forth between the bags, his mouth moving so rapidly, I know he's talking to himself. Maybe he's crazy, too. I wonder if he hears voices....

Is nothing sacred any more? Is no part of my life untouchable? I can't even go grocery shopping without be assaulted by the past. Wally world should be a Vampire-Free haven. God knows Alice would never shop here. Makes me want to go out and buy white, cotton, high waist panties just to spite her. In bulk.

"Fucking Vampire. In Wal-Mart of all places." I muttered so low I almost didn't hear myself. But Vampire does, and I sigh at the muddy brown corneas looking back at me. Contacts. Fuck. People-eater. Good lord, is he going to want to eat me too? Because he can just get in line for the all you can eat Bella-buffet. Who doesn't want to eat me? I'm fucking tasty.

Catpire is staring at me, frozen in place, and I refused to waver. This went on for all of another five minutes before either his shock wore off, or his resolve faltered. I could almost see his little vampire hamster wheel spinning in his head, cranking out question. Who is the human? How does she know? What do I do next?

Kiss my ass is what you do.

Oh man. Watching him throw daggers at me with his eyes while waiting to buy his cat food, made me want to piss myself silly. It was all I could do to sing show tunes so I wouldn't fucking laugh hysterically. He wanted to growl, I just know it. Well, rawr right back at yah big boy.

I just shrugged and walked away. I had a date with an empty house and a bag of mini marshmallows.

Oh look, gum.

**Peterpire POV**

She was in my head with a steering wheel, driving me fucking crazy. Being that I couldn't decide weather to hunt her down and drain her or let her go, she escaped my clutches in a white Kia Sentry. I contemplated following her, but I had yet to make my decision, and quite frankly, I had questions.

Questions without answers.

Seattle is no different then Texas and my days were filled with no less monotony and tedium. You can only read so many books before the stories begin to blend. I don't even own a television, I never have. It wasn't a trend that picked up. Fuck it; I'll just go scope out this month's meal options.

Now, I don't want to consider myself fickle, but over the years I have developed particular menu choices to sooth my burning mind. Given my previous occupation, I am more inclined to feel guilty at the task at hand than the average vampire. I can't justify taking a life not yet ready to go, that's not my business. That's up to the Man in White, the Big Guy, the Boss Man.

The voices that resonated inside my mind lead me where I wanted to go. Angel A.M. I called it, like a radio station in my head. Reaper's on DJ telling me whose time is up. I've always wondered if Mr. Angel of Death himself, Azrael, got shitty when I intercept his jobs.

Of course he had no idea, none of them do, that I can still fucking hear them. God's plan and his happy little minions still rang out strong in my mind. It's ironic. All of it.

My existence was irony in its purest form.

Because my existence shouldn't exist at all.

Well, shit.

That doesn't make any fucking sense does it?

Let me rephrase.....

Nope, there is no other way to put it.

One hundred and fifty years ago I was what you could loosely describe as a human, for a brief interlude anyway. It was a temporary situation, strictly business. I got my orders from the Big Guy upstairs. I went to Earth and did the Angel thing. There were many of us, peppering the humans. We had a job to do, and we did it.

I guess I should start at the beginning.

I was, at one point in my exponentially long life, an Angel of Fate; a little minion of God in a human husk. It came with a few perks. In human form I could eat…and I had a dick. Not that it did me any good. I had no free will.

It's that tricky free will shit, gets you ever time.

But I digress.

I was an Angel. An Angel of Fate, in charge of keeping check of destiny, and seeing that the loosely proscribed path set by God Himself was going along smoothly.

Now, most people are under the impression that fate is set in stone. It's not; it's more like a rough idea. Don't get me wrong, the Old Man has final say, but he's a pretty cool guy. He likes to see how things play out on their own, let you live your lives and what not. He can only lead you, not force you to follow. That's where the Divine Plan comes in. That's where I came in. We don't often intervene. Our positions were cautionary, observatory.

In His world, my name was Micha, and my job was to watch over the ever changing Divine Plan. On occasion the big man sent me to deviate when necessary. Unfortunately, I was sent in human form, for in Angel form, I possessed the power to alter fate too much. A death Angel kept his form, and all his perks. His job would not taint the Plan. It was the end of the line.

When I was sent to earth I was stripped of my wings, and what powers that did not pertain to the job at hand. I had to be human, or as close to human as I could come. My mission objective was to reset fate when something inhuman deviated. Change what needed to be changed, and be on my way back to heaven.

There is only one way into heaven without wings. It's the same for you as it was for me.

You have to die.

From the beginning I have died all of four hundred thousand and seventy three times.

I returned to heaven all of four hundred thousand and seventy two.

This left one death unaccounted for.

My last death. My true death. My death as Peter Micha Legion, the human Angel. Approximately one hundred and fifty eight years ago. It's not like I know the exact date I was damned or anything. September thirteenth, 1851.

In Heaven there are very few curve balls that knock the path off course. Very few things are beyond His control. The Devil had it out for us, sure, but he had few weapons. He had agreed to abide to the strict look-but-don't-touch rule. He could not sway the humans himself, just as God couldn't. It was this rule that lead him to the discovery that nearly tipped the balance between Heaven and Hell in his favor, if it hadn't been for warrior Angels like me.

The Devil had created a new kind of soldier. A soul-trapped in a human husk. The Anti-Angel.

A Vampire.

And they were good at altering God's plan. It was what they were made for.

I was an exterminator. A hit man. I set fate back on track when a vampire altered it. According to the Big Man upstairs, vampires were black-souls. Oh they had a soul, but it was as dark and marred as they come. They were murders in the deepest sense, living off the essence of others.

And the scary part? Like humans, they had free will.

If an Angel ever were to covet, it would be just that.

Free will.

But, as I have learned, it's not all it's cracked up to be, actually.

I was dispatched on a mission in Texas, searching out a coven of Vampires, three women to be exact. They were turning humans left and right, and it was a mother fucking butterfly effect. More vampires meant less pure souls, more vampires meant more murder, more vampires meant even more vampires. The cycle was endless. More. More. More.

It should have been simple. Go in as a Confederate Soldier, get caught by Maria, kill her, and die. My hands were weapons enough, all I had to do was set myself up for the intervention, and I was ready. I knew when and where and I waited for the little bitch to come.

As I had said before, the future was not set in stone, because there are many things that can alter Fate. When it came to facts, there were few, I just have an idea, a soft knowledge, if you will. But I knew she would attack to me. However, nothing in the Fates had spoken of him.

Jasper mother fucking Whitlock.

The Devil's little curve ball himself.

And oddly enough, my best fucking friend. Now anyways....

As it was planned, she attacked without hesitation, making to kill me as a pesky human snack, but hesitation was standing at her side, with ruby red eyes and a head of unruly golden curls. He knew something was off about me, his eyes flickering over my human skin. He had a gift that much was sure. And with it he could tell that human though I was at the time, I was more.

He said as much to Maria.

Then he turned me.

This wasn't part of the plan.

I was dead. I was dead, but I wasn't dying. I was trapped in my body, no way to return to my home. I was dead. I was dead. I was dead.

I was a mother fucking vampire.

And I was ravenous.

The Devil was a smart man, creating Vampires with one thing in mind. Murder, chaos, destruction. But that tricky free will, it was a fickle thing. I spent my new born years massacring small cities, but when it was found out I did indeed have a gift, a lingering remnant of my Angel Past, which I failed to mention, Maria kept me as a pet.

She kept me because I knew shit. Simple as that. I. Knew. Shit.

I could still hear things. My Angel White Noise, picking up snippets. Orders, radio Gospel of things to come. It was as if I wasn't mean to hear it at all, but I did. Little things came through the static that permeated my brain every fucking single day. And it drove me fucking nuts.

It wasn't like I could see the future. I didn't see anything. I just knew.

I spent years fighting within myself as I did Maria's bidding. I had once been a pure essence; I had been good in all senses. I needn't be damned. I needed to fight for my soul. Free will, I reminded myself. It's my choice to murder, to kill endlessly. I fought tooth and nail to preserve myself, to reserve myself from the temptations of blood, and fuck it was hard.

It was Jasper, the man who turned me, who saved me in the end. They were coming for him...my own kind. But he was a good man, and I knew that. I had seen it in his faltering hand. He was a good man with no direction, but the glimmering hints of doubt and hope lingered in his eyes. His blood red eyes. Quickly I discerned his particular gift. He could feel emotions. I imagine my emotions were felt on a different plane, and that was what set off his...radar or whatever about me. I wanted to save him. But first, I had to save myself.

Jasper was so deeply embedded into his mind he was beginning to lose himself. He had been with Maria, battling this Vampire war for a long time now. I watched him waste vampire after vampire, killing, changing, and then killing again. I had no doubt that if I were still Micha, Angel of Fate, I would have been dispatched to take him out quickly. I wondered when his Angel would come for him. I knew it would be a while till.

This is where free will came in.

I wasn't Micha anymore.

And I didn't want to kill Jasper. I wanted to save him. It was a new concept to me, as before there had been little choice. It was not my place to save. But...I had the choice I chose to save him. I just needed to get the fuck out of here first.

So, irony being my life, it shouldn't have came to a surprise that Jasper saved me first. I smiled as he let me walk away, knowing he had altered his fate doing so. His soul seemed cleaner, less tainted. That hopeful feeling needed to fester inside him until he was ready to break ties with Maria. I would come back for him, I would know when.

The day he let me run was the first day I spread my wings as a vampire. I knew they were there, embedded beneath my skin. I had died, and they had returned to me. They were mine. Death could not deliver me to Heaven as a mortal, but it had returned my wings.

My black, marred wings, a vision of my soul. Flightless wings, they could not carry me home. But they were mine, none the less, and I stretched them out wide, tearing through the steel that was my skin. It hurt, and I growled cold and deadly. But I had my wings back, and I couldn't help but smile a little.

Fifty years later, Jasper found a mate, a little sparky thing. I had returned and helped him escape, and he stayed with me for some time, but it was not his path. No, he found his path by way of a woman, sitting in a diner of all places.

I was left alone once again.

Where did that leave me? I was an Angel in a demons body, with all the amenities and none of the perks. I had wings that couldn't fly. I could walk on water, or stand on the ceiling, but I couldn't go home and I had to drink blood. The only perk was Free Will, and a dick. Quite frankly, they both baffled me at times. I had always been an indecisive little fucker.

At least I still knew shit.

I knew which souls were up, ripe for the picking.

And I knew I would find my meal ticket at the Seattle Cancer Institute located on 1100 9th Avenue, Seattle Washington in the form of one Sophia Ebbings, with three months left to live and suffer.

**A/N So that's the opening of the plot. Peter is an Angel bitten. I like the idea. He's very confused because he resents his free will, for it is a blatant reminder that he is no longer an angel. But he wants to live, wants to start over. Wants to start making choices. Hope you like it. More Bella next chapter!**


	2. Tirepire

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 2/?  
Author: Lifelesslyndsey  
Category: Twilight  
Pairing: Bella x Peter  
Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.  
Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons  
Word Count: 4,155  
Disclaimer: I own nothing

LOVE LOVE LOVE my beta girl, Magos186

Without her, this would be utter crap.

**A/N So, I know that I said this story would be slow to update, but I feel uncomfortable leaving it with just the first chapter because it leaves so much unsaid. **

**Also. Bit shouts to Catonspeed. She has been my muse, my inspiration, and my funny bone. I wrote the Catpire chapter before she did, and we were both like "oh noes! we share a brain!" It's very true. She's a funny lady. If you havn't checked out her story The Last Mile, you most certainly should. **

_**Previously on OBTS**_

_I knew which souls were up, ripe for the picking. _

_And I knew I would find my meal ticket at the Seattle Cancer institute located on 1100 9th Avenue, Seattle Washington in the form of one Sophia Ebbings, with three months left to live and suffer. _

**PeterPire POV**

Somewhere along the lines I had grown rather spiteful towards God. There was no denying I was bitter, and I found a certain satisfaction as playing Renegade Death Angel. I knew full fucking well I was defying his wishes, but what the hell was he going to do to me? _For_ me? I couldn't go home, and I certainly wasn't going to hell, dammit. I'd take my chances to be spitefully civil in my garden-pickings and never fucking die. God wasn't cashing in my soul, and I wasn't giving it up to the Devil. End of fucking story.

Sophia Ebbings was 42 with no children, one estranged brother, and a serious case of lung cancer. She climbed out of her car, hauling with her a small oxygen tank, tubes hanging from her face as she struggled to breath.

She startled as I made my presence known, leaning against the front fender of her Chevy, Equinox in the dark parking garage. "Wha....what do you want?" She asked me shakily.

"Hello Sophia," I breathed, letting my scentless breath wash over her face. "I've come to offer you respite."

She lowered the plastic mask from her mouth, "Respite from what?"

Tipping her chin gently with my fore finger, I lifted her face up, allowing her eyes to meet with mine in the low light. She gasped as she found her reflection in my red pools. "From this, dear Sophia, from the suffering."

"What are you?" She whispered, unable to tear herself away from my touch. She was captivated, by the beauty, the sound, by my mere presence.

"I am death, Sophia," I said. I had learned early on in this game it helped to be rather melodramatic. "And I can assure you that your days are numbered, but your suffering will continue until your dying breath. I can make it easy, my precious. I can take away your pain, and send you to God. You believe in God, don't you Sophia?"

"Ye....yes." She stammered.

"Let me send you to God, Sophia." I released her face from grip, kissing her cheek. "I'll let you think about it, my dear. You have three months till death takes you, and it won't be pleasant. What I offer is quick and painless, that much you deserve, darling. I'll give you time to make your decision and get your affairs in order. "

I dropped a card with nothing but a number into her hand. Her frail fingers wrapped around my wrist. She gasped at the coolness of my skin, and the lack of pulse.

"You're not human, are you?" She whispered into the darkness

"No, darlin," I replied, a southern drawl leaching into my voice.

"What's your name?"

I paused. This wasn't a question many asked. "Peter. My name's Peter."

With that I left her, disappearing almost before her eyes, ghosting off into the distance, leaving her still and silent. She'd say yes. No voice told me, but I knew. She was sick of suffering and had little left to hold on to.

I gave her a week.

I made to head to my car on other side of the expansive parking garage when a white Kia Sentra caught my eye. The lingering scent of something floral lingering in the air, and something else, something strangely chemical. It was her.

The strange human.

The fucking car was taunting me. Her scent hung heavy around me, but she was no where to be seen. Why was she at the hospital? She appeared healthy enough at the grocery store. Perhaps she worked here. I re-parked my car. I was going to fucking wait for her.

Two full hours later she reappeared, dressed down in jeans and a pea coat. She had her mess of brown hair caught up in what appeared to be two yellow, number two pencils. I followed cautiously as she pulled out of the garage, and drove her car onto the exit ramp and down an old and near empty high way.

Twenty three minutes into my stalking, a loud pop permeated the air, echoing against my vampire ear drum, followed by the familiar sound of flapping rubber against pavement. The Kia pulled to the side of the road a mile down the road, and I followed suit, keeping my distance, cutting the engine and lights quietly.

What on Earth was the Big Guy playing at? This wasn't in the books. Fate was deviating right before my eyes and I had no way of rectifying it

And I found, though some what uncomfortably, that I wasn't Micha anymore and I could do what I wanted. Like Peter from Family Guy.

Abandoning my car, I slipped silently through the shadows. Watching with my stealthy vampire night vision, I flinched as the human switched her blaring red hazard lights on. She left her vehicle, throwing open the trunk and unearthing a spare tire. I watched as she tugged it over the ledge of her car. It bounced slightly, escaping her grip and rolling down hill, towards me, cutting left and bouncing into the woods that lined the old road.

"Mother fucker! You fucking tire! I own you, bitch!" She spat, stepping across the shoulder of the road and the small expanse of grass along the woods. I ducked into the trees before she could see me, unearthing the tire with a victorious smile. "Where the fuck is it?" She hissed, talking along the white line that framed the road.

She stood in the tall grass, on the side of the road with her phone in hand. I watched her carefully for a moment, unsure of what to do next. Do I help her? Do I leave her? Do I get over it and eat her? It was like Subway for humans, and I wasn't sure what I wanted.

"Triple A? Yeah, I blew a tire, and then I lost my spare in the woods. No, I didn't take it in the woods, you dip shit! It bounced. Well, it rolled too...don't you put me on hold! Ah fuck!" She growled, stomping her foot against the gravel.

I swallowed hard, emerging from the darkness into the eerie red light emanating from her hazards. "Is this what you were looking for?" I asked, holding up the tire.

She jumped, spinning on her heels, "You! Following me?" She asked, with such an accusatory tone I flinched. She snapped her fingers, "Well don't just stand there Tirepire, help a girl out."

"I could eat you, you know," I informed her, following her down the road to her car. Jesus, she was mean. I didn't understand how such a small person could harbor so much fury.

"I'd much rather you changed my tire, but you do have the upper hand," she said, quirking a brow. "It's your call."

I lifted her car easily, freeing the flat tire with one hand and replacing it with the spare. The strange human tapped her foot as she watched me work. What the fuck was I doing? _Fuuuuck, just eat her. _

"Hey look at that. You managed to change my tire, and I'm still on hold with Triple A." She closed her phone. "Thank you," she said, as I put the flat in her trunk and closed it.

"You're welcome," I replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Well okay then," she chimed. "I'm going to go now before things get weird or you change your mind about eating me. And if you do, can you make it a sneak attack? I'd rather not know when you're gonna chomp down on my tender loins if it's all the same. You seem like an alright guy."

I stood there silently, the glare of her hazards playing against my skin as she climbed back up into her car and drove away. I had two choices here, let her drive away and be out of my life, or follow her. I was never good with choices.

I made my decision in two fucking seconds. My blinker was on before she even cut off on exit sixteen.

~*~*~*~*~

I watched her. Like a creepy bastard that I was, I watched her.

The girl was a curious creature with iron-clad habits she performed religiously.

Every day she woke between 7:45 and 8:15 every morning, without the aid of an alarm clock. From there she went to the kitchen, ate two pieces of toast with butter and half a grape fruit. She drank this with two and a half cups of coffee with milk, no sugar. Once finished, she'd hop on her tread mill and run for exactly thirty minutes, before grabbing her lap top, and heading for the small room on the left side of her apartment, typing furiously for exactly two hours.

At twelve o'clock, she walked through her house, touching every window. I wondered if she was checking to secure that they were locked.

I idly wondered if she was looking for me.

Did she know I would follow her?

She never left, with one exception. Tuesday she disappeared for three hours, returning with groceries from the local market. It didn't take three hours to shop for the three bags she brought home. I couldn't bring myself to follow her. I was a creepy bastard for watching her house, I didn't need to be stalking her every move.

She swept and mopped her floors daily, at exactly 7:00 PM, after she ate dinner. I couldn't figure out how she justified that they were dirty, but the girl was some sort of clean freak. She bought bleach in bulk. She separated her colors too, and rinsed her dishes when she was done with them.

She was just a normal, every day, run of the mill human.

Except she wasn't.

One morning, when the sun was shining brightly, trapping me in the confines of my heavy oak tree, I watched her lace her outer window sills with a thin layer of flour. Peculiar. She paced around her house, checking six of seven security cameras I hadn't even noticed, which was saying something because I'm a fucking vampire. She hid them well, each one at a certain angle, covering from what I could tell, every inch of her house and yard. She had one hidden in a fucking bird house. What could require such heavy security? Who was she to deem this necessary?

If she were normal, I could breech the house without being seen. I was fast enough to be nothing more then a light flair, or blur, caught on the camera. And yet, I suspected she would know exactly what phenomena marred her footage. Which was fine with me, I was content to keep my stalking to a distance. She just happened to have a fuckton of windows. I wasn't even the only one using her windows for less then honorable reasons, she has some creepy neighbors. I just..._I_ wanted to know about the peculiar girl who called me out and then ignored my very presence.

She never had visitors, but made one phone call day, promptly at 3:30pm. She sat outside, on the back porch and smoked, while she talked, flicking her ashes over the side rail. She never said much on the phone, short one or two word answers. She looked exasperated, irritated, and often down right pissed.

But I was addicted.

She was strange. No, she was _interesting_. I hadn't found one single thing interesting in all my one hundred something years on this earth and I find it in a human fucking girl. I couldn't help but watch her, even though her routine should have been exasperating and tedious after day one. Seriously, I set the clock in my truck to her. I found myself waiting rather impatiently for four o'clock every day, when she would check her mail. I enjoyed the way her body bounced when she jogged to the mail box much too much. It was lecherous and I didn't care. I couldn't find it in myself to chastise my ridiculously improper thoughts. What's one more sin when you're damned? I was a god damn vampire and I liked tits. I should have come to terms with that a _long_ time ago.

It had been nearly a week I spent watching this nameless girl. I considered checking her mail and finding out her name, but I knew that was wrong. Fuck, everything I was doing was wrong. I limited myself at a distant stalking and window peeping. You know nothing _too_ creepy.

I wondered if she was as lonely as I was. She never had company, and only made the one phone call every day, on schedule. She didn't even seem to like it. Besides grocery shopping she never went any where.

It was Monday. I didn't know her Monday routine. I watched as she rummaged through her room. She disappeared into the bathroom, emerging fully dressed with her hair pulled up on to a messy pony tale. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring out her bedroom window.

Directly. At. Me.

Fuck.

**Bellabuffet POV**

It had been a six days since he changed my tire. Old wounds threatened to rip open, but I assured myself the Cullens couldn't hurt me any more and the therapist upped my dosage of the good shit. I couldn't be sure he didn't know them, but he certainly didn't know me. The Cullens had been gone for the better part of six years. Better that way, I didn't need them in my life. It was bad enough they were still in my head.

However, _this _vampire was in a fucking tree. He had taken it upon himself to follow me, as all vampires are want to do apparently. It was starting to get rather irritating, and I was once again wishing I wasn't so observant to mythical fucking creatures. I had to give him credit though; he hadn't breached my cameras lines of view which meant he wasn't hanging out watching me sleep. In comparison to past vampires, he was practically polite.

Either way, we are on day six, post Tirepire, and he was still fucking watching me. It would seem his curiosity was yet to be assuaged. It was pill-a-palooza day and I knew I had to go to the pharmacy, where I had a feeling he would follow me, lurking in the shadows like Count fucking Dracula.

I should save him the trouble. I am, after all, an incredibly considerate person like that.

Pushing open my window, or what could be considered at this point, the Vampire Portal, or at the very least, something like a Vampire fast food drive-through window. I spoke...to nothing in particular, but I knew he could hear me. I had caught that glinting of diamonds in the distance. It seems he made his home in a nice oak tree.

"I know you're out there. If you're going to eat me, do it. I even come with an insert-teeth-hear guide. Bite along the dotted line. I am going to go down stairs and open my door, if you want to talk to me, be there," I said flatly, speaking into the fog. He was there, I was sure of it.

Taking my time to traipse my ass down stairs, I pulled open the living room door with a little bubble of apprehension. He was a people eater, but if he wanted to eat me, he could, and I couldn't stop him. My father's parting words had been, _I love you baby, but you can't fight death_. Some how, I don't think this is what he meant.

There he was another fucking beautiful vampire. I'll give him credit, even with the smooth lines characteristic of a Vampire, he was still rather rugged. He was taller, older, and closer to Carlisle's age. This did nothing to detract from his beauty; in fact it seemed to enhance it. But unlike the blonde doc, this vamp was a brunette, shortly cropped, but not quite militant. It was a little Super-Cuts, but it looked good on him. He had it combed all neat and orderly, I felt compelled to fuck it up, run my fingers through it and ruffle it all over. He was all red eyed and what not, but I couldn't help imagine that his eyes might have been blue at one point. The point before he was dead and all.

Something was off about him, though.

He got my Spidey-senses were tingling.

"Hello, I'm Bella," I said, thrusting my hand toward random grocery shopping, tire changing Vampire. He looked at it as if it were something foreign, as if he didn't have two hands himself. "It's customary in the English culture to shake a hand that's offered upon introduction. Should I say this slower? Hi. I'm. Bella." I paused, waiting for his reaction. Nothing. Maybe he's stupid. The cute ones usually are, aren't they?

"Okay, well I hate to go all Tarzan on you. Me Bella. You?"

"Peter?" He offered his voice turning up like a question.

"Are you sure about that?" I ask, quirking a brow.

**Peter-Pire POV**

"Hello, I'm Bella." She said, swinging the door back. She proffered her hand in greeting, but I was too stunned to reciprocate. I don't touch humans as rule. Unless, of course, I was eating them. And...I wasn't ready to eat her.

"It's customary in the English culture to shake a hand that's offered upon introduction. Should I say this slower? Hi. I'm. Bella."

I opened my mouth to speak, slamming it shut at once. I had no idea what to say, and she was kind of fucking mean. Her abrupt fucking attitude was giving me goddamn whip lash. I should just eat her and get this shit over with. I'm sick of fucking thinking about it.

I still hadn't answered.

"Okay, well I hate to go all Tarzan on you. Me Bella. You?" She pointed to herself, and then at me. I half expected her to grunt. Then again, she's asking me the same question I've been asking myself. Who am I?

"Peter?"

"Are you sure about that?" She asked her slender brow arching. I felt compelled to answer honestly. Her brown eyes burned into me with such broken hearted intensity, I couldn't figure out if I wanted to run or hug her. Something very bad happened to this girl.

"Not really. But who really knows who they are?" I asked in return, staring down at her. She couldn't be more then five feet tall. Those chocolate orbs flashed with some sort of emotion I wasn't quick enough to place. She shut off all impression in her face, returning to a slightly snarky cool facade. I had to give her props, this was a look I had been perfecting for the better part of one hundred and fifty years, and she had it down to a T.

"Amen to that. I'm guessing your not here to eat me, you can come in if you want."

She led me to her living room, before proceeding to flop down into an old worn leather chair. It didn't match anything else, but it was heavy with the scent of importance, of history.

"So, Peter, what brings you to Windy City? I'm guessing it's not the coffee?" She asks, folding her hands into her lap. Her nonchalance was unnerving to say the least. But underneath the shell-shock, it was kind of inviting. I hadn't carried on a conversation in years, unless you consider Sophie Ebbings and my other meals. And my brother, my sire, but even he I hadn't seen since Maria.

"Oh I come for the weather," I replied, lightly, pouring a teasing tone into my normally indifferent drawl. She seemed to like that, and her eyes sparkled as she replied, nodding her head slightly.

"Yeah, I can understand that. Passing or parking?"

"Parking," I replied. It was probably well that she knew I wasn't a nomad. "I recently purchased a house in Wood Burrow."

"You live in a gated community?" She asked, laughing to herself. I understood why this would be weird, but I had chosen my home carefully.

"The lots are spaced, and the neighbors are pretentious assholes, so it's easy living," I explained, sniffing her couch. It smelled like...well it smelled like dog.

"Jacob," she said. "You smell my friend Jacob. He's a werewolf."

"You're aware of the wolves?" I asked in blatant surprise. Then again, she knew about vampires, perhaps this was expected. Maybe the wolves told her about the vampires. But who told her about the wolves?

"Hey! Hey!" She snapped her fingers. "You know you mumble a little when you drift off like that? You haven't talked to any one but yourself in a while, have you? And I do know about the wolves. Some of my best friends are wolves."

I didn't like that it was obvious I wasn't... socialized. I felt vulnerable, as if it were a weakness.

"I didn't mean to offend you." I apologized, inching to the edge of the couch. It reeked of his scent like he fucking rubbed himself up on it. "I think he was marking your house, because your couch fucking stinks. Come to think of it, he must have rubbed on your door frame too, because it was pretty strong there as well."

"Sounds like Jacob; he does the same thing to me. Some days I expect him to whip it out and piss on my foot to keep you bastards away." She shrugged, "I'm not sure how I'll explain your scent when Jacob comes to visit."

"I don't have a scent." I explained, watching her curl up into a ball in her chair. "Why does this wolf feel compelled to mark you?"

"Fuck! No scent? Well, that's convenient. I see no reason he has to know you're here. I don't need them outside my fucking room babysitting me just because you decided to pop a squat in town. He marks me because he's a would-be Alpha and we're like family. Jacob is incredibly protective of me. He's got the whole big brother thing going on."

"Babysitting?" I asked my brow permanently quirked at this strange human.

She shrugged, "Eh, what can I say, I'm a tasty human. Vampires tend to flock me. I had a bit of an err...altercation with one fierce little bitch. She hasn't been back in a while, but I don't doubt that she will be. She's on this mate-for-mate vendetta. It's been six years you'd think she'd give it a rest. She doesn't know where I am now. Her plan's a little screwy though, at this point."

"You were mated with a vampire?"

"I could hardly consider it mated, as he left me. But what can I say? My needs cannot be satisfied by mere mortals. Or werewolves if we're talking details. And you Vampires don't put out," she rambled. "Anyway, is it just you or are there others?"

"Just me," I mumbled, feeling a little awkward. I was less then comfortable with her discussing her sex life. Especially with the dog. That's like taking bestiality to a whole new fucking level. And I now questioned the couch.

She smiled, "Kay, kay. Well, Peter I've got a date with a pharmacist. You're welcome to tag along. You kind of look like you need a friend."

I scoffed at the remark. She was hardly one to talk. "Oh well sorry we can't all be such social butterflies like yourself. You've left your house once in a week."

"God, you're such a stalker," she huffed. "I don't like people," she replied simply.

"Me neither. They talk too much."

"Yes because your food should never talk," she said, smiling.

I couldn't help but frown. "How are you so casual about that? I mean, its murder, what I do."

"Hunting for food isn't murder. But eh…you'd have eaten me already if that were your intentions. I mean, I doubt I smell very appetizing right now, but back in the day I was a tasty mother fucker." She grabbed her keys and headed for the door. I lead the way up the cement path towards her drive way, my khaki trench coat fluttering in the wind. Bella was humming the Carmen Sandiego theme song. Well, that was better then Columbine jokes, at least.

"Back in the day?"

"Before the medication. Apparently I'm schizophrenic among other things," she said with a shrug of her small shoulders. "Is it okay if we take my car? I've never been one for riding vampires. I like a smooth ride."

Riding...vampires.

_Oh hell. Clean thoughts. _

**A/N I just wanted to get some explanation of Peter out of the way. Bella is just Bella six years after Edward left. I almost feel like she isn't exactly OOC, because the attitude adjustment is rationally explained through medication. She could very well go back to spineless Bella. But maybe not. Nothing ever really leaves us. Hit me up, 20 more reviews and you get the third installment. **


	3. Treepire

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 3/?  
Author: Lifelesslyndsey  
Category: Twilight  
Pairing: Bella x Peter  
Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.  
Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons  
Word Count: 3,897  
Disclaimer: I own nothing

Te amo mi Beta, Magos186

**A/N Keep the reviews coming and I shall post as soon as I can! **

**Bella POV**

"Is it okay if we take my car? I've never been one for riding vampires. I like a smooth ride."

The look on his face when that little gem slipped my verbal filter was priceless. Peter stopped in his tracks, causing me to slam full force into his back. I stepped around him, catching his face in a frozen state of shock. Great, he was an Edward. I idly wondered if he's be as anal retentive as the last sexually repressed Vampire I had come across. I fucking hoped not.

"Good lord, that wasn't what I meant. I meant like...being carried by a vampire as he sprinted through the forest like woodland fairy. It always made me sick."

"Why would a vampire need to carry you anywhere?" Peter inquired, lingering hesitantly at the passenger door.

"I'm a slow ass human; they got sick of waiting me to walk at my slow ass human pace. Peter, get in the fucking car." I said forcefully as his hand lingered near the door knob, dilemma flaring behind his arms. "If you feel like eating me, I'll roll the windows down."

He opened his door, and I walked at my slow ass human pace to mine, climbing in rather ungracefully. "It isn't the scent. I've just...well I don't normally talk to humans, or get in there cars and share life stories."

"We've hardly shared life stories, Peter. If you'd rather not come with, that's fine. But I want you to know that you don't need to lurk in trees, you can knock on my door any time you feel like watching me eat my breakfast or check my e-mail."

"Your going to keep bringing that up, aren't you? Look, it's not my proudest moment, but as a Vampire, I'm obligated to protect the secret." Peter huffed, smoothing down his hair nervously. "Of course I would be curious about a human who knew."

I chuckled, "You were thinking about eating me, weren't you? Before I called your sparkly ass out?"

He glared at me, "Yes." He said, rather indignantly, "I hadn't made up my mind yet."

"Have you come to your conclusion yet?" I asked him with a wide grin. He looked at me with a furrowed brow, before returning my grin.

"No, I still haven't made up my mind." He laughed, "I'll let you know."

"Thanks for the heads up." I said, casting him a wry grin, which he slowly returned. He was such a strange Manpire.

"So, tell me about yourself." I said, as I pulled out of my drive way and onto the little private drive that poured out into sprawling city suburbs.

He sighed, "What do you want to know?"

I paused, considering the question. I wasn't looking for specifics. I wasn't looking for anything really. Against my better judgment I had invited a vampire into my home, into my car, and into my life. Apparently I was hard up for a new face. A human drinker at that. I briefly wondered if lack of judgment was a side effect of one of my many medications. Would this bother me if not for the pills? Wouldn't I be scared shitless?

No. No, because death didn't scare me. It hadn't in a long time. I welcomed it; I'd hump a Reaper if I saw one. Peter was no different then the cliff, the blade, or the bottle of pills. He was just another cowardly attempt to dive off the deep end. Some sick part of me was hoping he'd kill me. I'd hardly tell him that, though. It was in this moment that I realized I wanted him around. I wanted him to have every little fucking opportunity to eat me. I had no intentions of slicing a main artery or anything; no I was done with suicide. I didn't want to put that kind of effort in. The way I looked at it, this was beneficial for both of us. I got to be dead, he got a meal, and I saved who ever he was going to eat, for now at least. It was good, it worked. I mean, I couldn't be sure that he would eat me, so...really, I was perfectly innocent.

"Anything. Why did you move to Seattle? Why alone?" I asked at random, turning onto the highway. My home was fifteen minutes from town, the farthest I could find that wasn't in complete seclusion. I loved my neighbors. Neighbors meant no sneaky vampires or werewolves would break into my house and watch me while I was sleeping. I had that shit on lock down.

He froze for a moment, the unnatural rigidness I would never obtain. "I had a coven once, but it wasn't for me. I left, and soon after, my brother followed. He and I stayed a together for a while, but he needed more. He found a mate, and she lead him else where. I haven't seen him since the day he left, but I miss him every day. I've been alone since."

"No mate?" I asked gently, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"No mate."

"Well it seems we have something in common. I too once had a coven, not that I'm a vampire, but I practically lived with them. It was an unusually large coven, I would have made eight. But after an incident on my birthday involving a paper cut, they abandoned me. I wasn't worth the trouble. So, Peter, I too am coven-less, and mate-less."

I caught him eyeing my inner right wrist speculatively. He wanted to know if that's how I obtained such a scar, but wouldn't ask. Or at least, he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask.

"You're very indecisive." I noted, watching his face rage with inner conflict.

"Is it that obvious?" He asked, with a weary sigh.

I laughed, "It was obvious the first time I saw you, muttering to yourself about cat food." I said with a smile. He grimaced, to which I could only respond with a laugh, "What the hell were you doing buying cat food anyway?"

"The lady who owned my house before me fed them, and they won't go away. I didn't...I couldn't let them starve...they were there first. So I fed them. Now they will never leave."

"You could have just eaten them." I noted with a smile. I couldn't imagine any of the Cullens eating a cat. Well, maybe Emmett, that boy would eat anything.

"I don't eat animals." Peter said seriously, his voice low and menacing.

"I am well aware. Hey...weren't you wearing contacts?"

He flipped down the sun visor, popping open the mirror. "Shit. They dissolved." He cast his eyed downwards, staring intently into his lap.

"Peter, I don't care about your eyes."

He looked at me, quirking a thick brow, "You should."

"Your right, I should. But I don't. Maybe I am crazy. It could be the pills. They make me some what...passive." Passive my ass, I could watch a kitten get hit by a truck and thing 'oh sad'. Not to mention the damage my libido took, but that was beside the point.

I rounded the Pharmacy, pulling through the drive through. The eighteen year old pharmacist intern smiled at me with her bubble gum pink gloss smeared across her lips and yellow teeth. Did I look like that six years ago? I fucking hope not.

"Isabella M. Swan." I said, not waiting for her Walgreen Welcome, or her inquiry as to weather I would like to sign up for some shitty discount card or something.

"Isabella?" Peter asks, arching one immaculate brow. Seriously, no amount of tweezing, waxing, man-scaping or threading could bring a human such perfection in the form of brows. I had eyebrow envy.

I sighed, as I often did when my name came into play, "Isabella Maria."

**Peter POV**

Bella, though surprisingly easy to talk to, was perhaps a little forward in nature. She called me on my shit without preamble, even going so far as to mention my indecisive nature and my inability to choose a fucking cat food. Like I'm not mortified about that shit enough. I don't need her noticing my idiosyncrasies. A vampire with severe OCD is not funny.

And my eyes. For a girl who's been laid out like a $4.99 lunch buffet for not one vampire, but several, she sure has some fucking balls. She was a little to cocky for my taste, she should be afraid. I've eaten bigger things then her.

The girl behind the Pharmacy drive through window gives Bella a half smile half grimace for greeting. . Her name was Erica, and she was rocking a fake tan, dark roots, and a poorly cut asymmetrical bob. And what looks suspiciously like scabby herpes around her mouth, hidden beneath a quarter inch of make up and thick pink lip gloss. I felt the need to wash my hands just looking at her. Seriously, if I were human, the idea of her touching my medication would render me incapable of taking said medication. The bitch was nasty.

"Isabella M. Swan." Bella said before the pretender-blonde can speak. She nods, ducking back beyond the window to gather Bella's things.

"Isabella?" I asked, with a smile. Nothing about the girl beside me said Isabella. Twenty minutes with her, and she _screams_ Bella.

She groaned, clearly displeased with her given name, "Isabella Maria."

"Well Isabella Maria, I'm Peter Micha." I replied, holding out my hand which she shook with a wry smile. I realized I was being a fucking tool earlier, and if shaking her hand made amends and a proper introduction, I'd do it.

Her palms were hot. Like insanely hot. I could feel her pulse beneath my own, and it felt good. It also felt a bit like a dinner bell, but I pushed aside those thoughts. I would not eat my new friend. It seemed rather rude.

She cocked her head, as Erica ran Bella's insurance information "Micha...that's an Angel name." She said, almost as if she was unsure. I stiffened beside her, unable to respond. Does the fucking human miss nothing, seriously?

"Uh, yeah. It was." Was, I said, without thinking. Would she notice? She shook her head, as if to agree with me even though this was her observation.

"My mother got into a big religious kick. She loved reading about Angels. I can't remember Micha's job, but I remember thinking the name was pretty." She laughed, "That's pretty shallow now that I think about it."

She thinks my name is pretty.

Pretty?

I was a little offended. I was a fucking Vampire Assassin for crying out loud. I wasn't pretty.

I was fierce and shit.

Hello, I'm a Vampire. Take this seriously!

"Thank you." Bella said into the filthy microphone thing. I can almost see the saliva from previous customers, sick customers, breathing all over it. She gingerly scooped up her the two white paper bags from the bin, and tossed them promptly into my lap. "Hand sanitizer?" She offers, plucking a tiny clear bottle from her cup holder. The scent is harsh, and chemical, reminiscent of a stage three cancer patient. Purely chemical.

"No thank you."

She grimaces, "I'm sorry, I imagine it smells awful. I have germ...issues."

"That's fine. I'd rather not intrude on your life. I appreciate you taking your time to talk with me, though it calls into question your judgment and self preservation."

Bella laughed a deep throaty laugh that I shouldn't have enjoyed. It's rare I hear laughter, my own or other wise. It's nice, soothing even. She shouldn't be laughing, and yet she was, her brown eyes flashing.

"Self preservation. What's the point? Look, Peter, relax. Your a rigid mother fucker, I'm half tempted to spike your kool-aid with a valium. Maybe I can mix you up a nice Percocet and O positive cocktail when we get back to my house. You're a vampire. Chillax."

"I'm not use to interacting with humans. I hardly interact with Vampires. I'm...reclusive." I frown. Why the fuck am I admitting this to her?

She smiled, "I get that. As you may have observed, I too am a bit of a homebody."

I have to laugh t that, because it's true. "You have some pretty rigid rituals, yourself, Bella. Everything you do is times meticulously. Right down to how long you take to piss."

"Seriously, you are so fucking weird." She snaps, growling at me. She growled at me. It was cute and human, and I wondered if she knew she did that. It made me wonder just how much time she spent in the company of vampire to pick up such a trait. "So, I run a tight ship. It keeps me from getting bored. Boredom leads me down dangerous roads. I have to keep busy."

"You mop your floor every single day." I noted, casting her a wry look.

She shrugged, "I bleach my counters too. I also Lysol my door knobs. I steam my carpets weekly. Sometimes I do it topless, you should stick around. The second window on the bottom should give you a good view."

I gaped, "Bella I never...I didn't try to see you....um...in any state of undress." I finished awkwardly, fidgeting with a torn edge of one prescription bag.

"Naked, Peter." She said flatly, "I think the word you were looking for was naked. Bare. Buff. Nude."

"Yes, that. I've never seen you ...naked." Ain't that the truth.

"Yes well, as I said before, I'd rather you in my house then lurking outside my windows. You've kept your distance, and while I admire that, you're still hanging out in a tree. Can't be much fun."

"What's with the security system?" I asked, furrowing my brow. She hardly seemed like the type to need such a thing.

She laughed, "I like to keep check on unwelcome visitors. As a teenager, certain mythical creatures like to sneak in my room and watch me sleep."

"That is so many kinds of fucked up." I said, making no effort to hide my disgust, "I mean I understand what I was doing was an invasion of your privacy, but in my defense, your knowledge is dangerous for our kind. However I would never ever enter your home uninvited. That's fucking ridiculous."

Bella chuckled beside me, "It is pretty creepy. At the time I thought it was, I don't know, _romantic_."

"The flour?" I asked, "So you can see if any one managed to get by your cameras?"

"Yep. No one enters without my knowledge."

"Why?" I pressed. After all, if she was familiar with Vampires, as well as Werewolves, and was so comfortable inviting me into her home, what would drive her to such means of security?

"Control." She said, the steel in her voice matching the steel in her eyes, "No one, mythical or not, should be able to welcome themselves into my lives without my consent. It is extremely difficult to contact me. I have an assistant take my calls; she calls me once a day and relays messages. Other then that, I have one private e-mail address, which only one person in the world besides myself knows. And as long as he is the only one, no nosey pixie can see it." She finished with a startling evil smirk. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, but she kind of creeped me out.

"Nosey Pixie?" I questioned lamely, smoothing creases in my coat. They were driving me fucking nuts. I idly wondered if Bella knew where I could find a decent dry cleaner around here.

"Yep," She popped, "Little Pixiepire, couldn't keep her goddamn nose where it belonged." She seethed, her frail looking fingers locked on the steering wheel in a white knuckle embrace.

"One of the vampires who took a snap at you, I presume?"

She chuckled, the menacing smirk now a full on grin, "Oh no, she never tried to eat me. She can see the future, or options in the future. From what I know, it's fragmented. But she can't see werewolves, so the only person who has my e-mail is Jacob. All my work related e-mails go to him, and he sends them to me, so there is no way she can see them."

"That's rather clever," I noted, itching to pry her dead lock loose, on the steering wheel, "If it isn't too personal, may I inquire as to why you detest her so?"

Bella's face softened, "I don't detest her. I just don't want her to find me. While I do not blame the Coven in itself, I realized that though they posed a danger to me, I posed a greater danger to them."

"May I request further explanation?" I inquired, desperately smoothing the wrinkled edges of the pharmacy bag. There was a pink smear on the bottom corner that made me cringe. Anything that had been near Erica's mouth would not be touching my person. While I was moderately sure Vampires could not develop herpes, I was not risking myself to such disease. The thought alone disgusted me.

Nodding curtly, "It's a fifteen minute drive back to the house. You may ask me what ever you want in those fifteen minutes, but after that, you can never ask about my previous affiliation with vampires. Is that...acceptable?" She asked, not tearing her eyes from the road.

I eyed her nervously, "If you rather I didn't pry...."

Shrugging in such a manner that dissipated all previous tension, she replied easily, "No. If this association...friendship...what ever we will inevitably develop is to continue, questions will be asked. So, fifteen minutes. Ask what you will."

"Why did they leave?" I asked without warning, part of my vampire mind wondering why she would openly pursue a friendship or an association with me having known me all of a half an hour. It was a question that lingered just below 'why the hell did I get in the car?'

"There was an incident. One of the coven, the Pixipire's mate, was not as controlled as the others. I cut myself on wrapping paper and he tried to eat me. Perfectly reasonable response, really. I don't blame him. Though my boyfriend tried to tell me that he was leaving because he no longer found any source of entertainment in me. That I was a burden. It's taken me a few years, but I think he left because he was afraid. Afraid it would be him desperate to tear into me. I was his singer, after all. "

I gasped, audibly, embarrassingly. "And you live to tell the tale."

She smiled serenely, "I live to tell many tales, Peter. Edward, that was his name, abandoned me in the woods. I fell to the ground and did not rise. It was a werewolf who returned me home. Edward...was fuckwit. I know that now. A selfish creature unable to sacrifice anything for that which he deemed his everything. I would have given up my life for him, my existence. But he clung to humanity he had no right to. He'd rather an eternity alone with good conscious, then an eternity with love, and me."

"Tell me of the wolves." I asked lightly, feeling the tension heavy in the air once more. "Did you learn of them through the Vampires?"

"Jacob Black helped me through my post-Vampire depression. He sought a relationship I couldn't give, but was my friend none the less. He phased, as they are like to do. When he started to ignore me, distance himself from me I grew....mentally unstable."

Though her tone was vague, her words challenged me to ask. "How so?"

"I jumped of a cliff into the ocean during a lightning storm." She said without inflection, clicking her blinker to turn onto an exit.

I swallowed. Suicide, I thought, what a tragedy to inflict. "Was it your intention to die?"

"Yes." She said without hesitance, "But a giant fucking dog hauled me out of the water. I was...incoherent. One second there was a dog nuzzling me, the next second it was a big naked Indian. I forgave Jacob, and he forgave me, and we were good. A year later, he imprinted."

"Soul-mates." I said absently, my mind suddenly filled with knowledge not previously there. The act of it was not surprising, and I quickly filed through it, learning all I could, "When a werewolf finds its mate."

"Yes. She's a lovely girl. Recommended a really decent therapist." Bella noted absently.

"Did you want to be changed?" I asked, sensing closure on the discussion of werewolves and the like. "Did you want to become a vampire?"

She smiled lightly, as if revisiting some memory. "Yes. The PixiePire said it would be so, but I learned not to put much stock in her visions beyond predicting the weather."

I was stunned. "I've never met any one who would want to be a vampire. To damn yourself so thoroughly."

"You've never been in love."

I laughed at that, darkly, and quoted, _"Love is a bird, a heart with wings. A song in the morning, the bird does sing. Love is a trial, and one we err. Love is a war that is never fair." _It was something God once said to me, when I asked about love. Love, he said, was not of his creations, but rather a culmination of free will.

"I have a feeling that those are pretty words meant to cover something sad." Bella noted, "What do they mean?"

I shrugged, "What do they mean to you?" I didn't know what they meant to me, and I'd no desire to attempt it.

She laughed. "Tricky little fucker aren't you? You'll answer my questions Peter, one day, willingly too."

"Perhaps." I noted. I had no intentions of telling her anything really. She already knew way to fucking much.

She was silent for many minutes, and I wished I had more questions. But at the time, I didn't. The past was what it was, the past. If that was where she wished to leave it, I was in no place to fucking argue.

"To me," She began, breaking the silence, "To me they mean that love is flighty, inconsistent. Love is often a painful. Love is often a mistake. And there is no justice to faults, for we put them upon ourselves when we chose to love."

Turning of her car, she snatched up the pharmacy bags. "I'm a bitter little thing aren't I? I'd probably taste like shit."

I nodded absently, "You smell like...floor cleaner. Flowery, but chemical. That would be the medication, then?"

"Yeah. You could probably get a good buzz sucking my blood. You coming in? I need to clean my floors and talk to my agent."

"I..." Don't know if I should. I had my answers, and it would have been better to just return. I wasn't sure what would keep me.

"Don't think on it. You're lonely. Come in." She said firmly, leaving no room for argument. I followed her up the path, wondering what it was I had gotten myself into.

**A/N There. I thought I would get some of Bella's back story out of the way. It's mostly the same, a few changes. It will be a while before I can update, but I will update. Ta!**


	4. Prudepire

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 4/?  
Author: Lifelesslyndsey  
Category: Twilight  
Pairing: Bella x Peter  
Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.  
Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons eventually.  
Word Count: 5,044  
Disclaimer: I own nothing

_**Previously on OBTS**_

_"To me," She began, breaking the silence, "To me they mean that love is flighty, inconsistent. Love is often a painful. Love is often a mistake. And there is no justice to faults, for we put them upon ourselves when we chose to love."_

_Turning of her car, she snatched up the pharmacy bags. "I'm a bitter little things aren't I? I'd probably taste like shit."_

_I nodded absently, "You smell like...floor cleaner. Flowery, but chemical. That would be the medication, then?"_

_"Yeah. You could probably get a good buzz sucking my blood. You coming in? I need to clean my floors and talk to my agent."_

_"I..." Don't know if I should. I had my answers, and it would have been better to just return. I wasn't sure what would keep me._

_"Don't think on it. Your lonely. Come in." She said firmly, leaving no room for argument. I followed her up the path, wondering what it was I had gotten myself into._

**PeterPire Pee Oh Vee.**

Before Bella, I hadn't realized how much time I spent not deciding. She seemed to sense my indeterminable indecision, and snapped out commands like a drill Sargent. What should have irked me, was oddly comforting. However, the oddity of the situation was not lost on me. The Lion was tamed by the lamb. Though I couldn't say who the lamb and who the lion was right now.

We stood in the foyer of Bella's house, or rather she was in the foyer, and I was forcibly being kept on the front step.

"I don't care if your going to take your shoes off, Peter, you have to wear them, regardless of your shoe, or no shoe status." She said, hand on hip, proffering two blue booties made of thin medical-cloth.

"Your going to clean your floors anyway!" I argued, pointedly not taking the emasculating foot wear.

She smirked, jumping forward to tuck the things into the front pocket of my button up with a victorious grin. "Then you can just sit outside, Tree-Pire."

I sat on one of the chrome barstools in Bella's kitchen, ankles locked around the legs, suspending my bootie covered shoes from her already pristine floor. She pranced around, ignoring my slumped shoulders of defeat. Her kitchen...was a perfect depiction of an Ikea Catalog. Blood red and chrome finishings, with the glass top stove I hadn't bothered to splurge for. In fact, it looked more or less exactly like the one I had installed last week.

"I bought this exact kitchen last week." I said, as she pulled out her cleaning arsenal, for such a vast display of cleaning implements could be called nothing else. Flesh burning chemical sloshed in there plastic spray bottles, while she rummaged through the mess, plucking cleaners and setting them on the counters. The last bottle of heavy purple plastic sent heavy lilac-and-chemical fumes into the air, as she snapped on her latex gloves with a grin.

"I love Ikea! No thinking required. I didn't even have to stray from my anal retentive schedule of never leaving the house. I bought this shit online, delivered the next day. They even installed it." She said, over the low hum of her Swiffer Wet Jet. I had to agree to the convenience of Ikea. That was why I liked it too. Simple as pointing at a page and saying 'wrap it up, I'll take it.' Plus, you could be comfortably confident that your shit would match. And if I were being honest, I liked my shit to match.

"What do you do?" I asked suddenly, feeling that this was a safe enough venture. I knew what a kitchen like this cost, but I wasn't a blunt enough bastard to ask how she could afford it.

She looked up from her ministrations, looking me dead in the eye as she pushed the button on the mop, feebly releasing purple cleaning fluid onto her floor in a few careful spurts, "I write Teenage Vampire Romance Novels." She dead panned, blinking once before returning to her mopping.

"What?"

She laughed, sweeping her mop easily beneath the heavily glossy red lacquered cupboards, "Seriously. Don't bust a nut, though. I stick to the night walking, burn in the sun, anti-garlic and holy water shit. People eat that fuckery up. I'm rolling in the cash-money of teen girls and lonely house wives."

"You...write...about vampires." Apparently incoherence was a side effect of Bella. I could not put voice to the blaring statements in my head. She...wrote vampire romance novels. Something about that seemed so wrong to me. I had to laugh.

She snorted through a smile, "I'm working on a new series. Angry, teenage werewolves trying to live normal lives, while battling local vampires and tenth grade girls. I use a pen name."

I groaned, dropping my head into my hands. Yeah, I had heard of Bella before, but not by name. "Your Maria Cygnet. Your shit is _all_ over the place. _Sunset_, right?"

She giggled, "And_ Sun Rising. _Very creative titles, I know. My next one's titled _Blood Moon _of all things."She snorted, "Oh and they are a bunch of shit too, aren't they? Have you read them? Total crap. I can't stand to look at them. But the demand is astronomical. You know they just came out with dolls? I could live off the money from t-shirt sales alone."

With that, she lifted up her sweat shirt to reveal a pale, androgenous male wearing what had to be lip stick, lovingly caressing a starry eyed teen age girl. She had big eyes and long hair, and look, if nothing, a little confused.

"Is that suppose to be you?" I asked pointing to the girl. Bella looked down at her own chest and smiled, plucking a piece of lint from Shirt-Bella's face.

"The publishers liked my look. And, really, it was me. Sort of. I adapted my pathetic story to book form, carefully concealing all truth about vampires. So if you suddenly get a bug up your ass to read them, don't put a lot of stock in them." She said with a shrug, flipping off the Wet Jet. She pulled a spray bottle from the bucket, and started spraying cupboard handles and door knobs.

"Don't be offended, please, but I highly doubt I will be reading your Teenage Vampire Romance Novel any time soon." I said gently, hoping that I didn't offend her. She laughed again, as seemed to be her response to everything. I wasn't sure what was funny, but I couldn't find it in myself to question her.

"I'd rather you didn't. Being that we are in the opinion building step of this fledgling, interspecies vampire-humanship, I'd rather you didn't accidently form any judgments based on pile of literary fuckshit."

We passed the time in silence comfortably, and I was pleased to find that Bella felt no need to fill the verbal-void. She cleaned contently, wiping down everything in fierce circles, scrubbing dustless corners till her chrome counter tops shined like glass.

"So what do you do? Nomads have to make money some how." She asked, tucking her mop and bottles back into their cupboard. She dropped her latex gloves in the assorted trash and recycling bins beneath her sink, turning to lean against her freshly scrubbed sink.

"I'm an independent automotive engineer." I explained, smirking at her absent look, "I draw pretty pictures of cars that don't exist yet and sell them to the bigger companies retarded amounts of money."

She rolled her eyes and snorted once more, "Go figure, another loaded vampire. So any you doodle any cars common enough that I might know?"

"I sold a few original designs for the Volvo to Germen fifty years ago. I created the designated Hippy Van before it was every the designated Hippy Van My hypothetical children are still reaping those benefits. Most my designs are bought, but back stocked for years before they are put in production. It's a lot easier to draw a car then it is to make one. I alter my beneficiary every twenty years and sell my designs by several alter-egos. Bella?"

"I'm sorry what?" She asked, wide eyed and blank, "You lost me at Volvo. That's a pussy ass car if I ever saw one. You make soccer vans too?"

I scowled, "I'm not the one that made Volvo's some sort of grocery-go-getter. I'll have you know my original design for it was much more masculine. And it's not the only car I've created. I created the wood works for the Aston Ma---"

Her eyes turned cold, and her fingers twitched at her sides, "No more car talk."

Feeling that I had some how inadvertently slashed the tires on this weird ride, I sighed, lament human gesture I had never rid myself of, "Did I say something to upset you?"

"No." She said automatically, before letting her shoulders fall, "Yes. But it's stupid, and you certainly didn't mean it. Can you accept that I hold unreasonable, and some what vicious grudges against innocent cars that never hurt nobody? Come. Living room, I get twitchy when I miss my meds." she grabbed the pharmacy bag off the counter, and headed out of the kitchen without another word.

I followed her obediently into the living room, seating myself lightly on the wet-dog couch. I forcibly placated myself with the fact that it didn't smell like sex and dog, thus limiting the possibility she got off with the wolves on this particular piece of furniture. I had already allowed myself to dwell on her possible sex life to long, being that any dwelling was to fucking long, and I was just uncomfortable.

"Sit the fuck still, Twitch-Pire." Bella snapped, "Jesus, you are a weird one. The couch is fine. About once a month the boys get together there, so yeah, it probably smells a bit like a puppy pile, but it's been years since I fucked any of them. Or anything, really."

"Uh." I replied, oh so fucking eloquently. What does one say to that? I was fairly intelligent, not a little bitter, with intimate knowledge of the inter-workings of the universe, but Sex....was not something I understood, or wished to, to be honest. The whole business looked messy, and was the closest most people came to death without dying, if only for a moment.

I looked up to catch Bella eyeing me speculatively, and quickly masked my face, which she seemed to be able to read like Sunday fucking comic strips. "Well then," She said airily, tearing into the Walgreens bag, "Sex is a no-no subject then. It's okay, I won't judge. I've met prudish vampires before, so, nothing new."

Glowering, I shucked of my coat, tossing it onto the end of the dog couch, before letting myself sink into a more relaxed position, "I am not a prude."

"Do you want to see my tits?" She asked abruptly, fingers plucking at the hem of her shirt to reveal several smooth inches of her....middle area. Her navel was...more skin on living breathing person then I had every seen, and the sudden onslaught of primal urges scared the piss out of me. I just didn't do_ those _things. Not that I hadn't given it a lot of thought. A lot of fucking thought. I just never did. I wasn't a 'do' person. I was a think-about-it person. I was pretty fucking sure we established this

I startled forward, nearly flying of the couch. "No!"

She laughed, dropping her shirt back down, to return to her meds, "Yeah, your not a fucking prude, refusing a little nip action. It wasn't like I offered you a blow job."

Oh great. I had a fucking...._erection. _

Because as not only a vampire, but an angel as well, my wealth of knowledge combined with my massive, compartmentalized mind meant I could form incredibly vivid imagery for every single word I heard, and trying to damper down the things that came to mind when the word Blow Job fell from her mouth was like trying to piss on a house fire. It didn't fucking work. I cursed every deity both mine and not that I had chosen to remove my coat. I didn't have these problems often, and I really never knew how to handle them.

Every single alarm in my mind and body went off, signaling the urgent need to flee the fucking scene. Not just my Angel-urges but my vampires ones as well. I had spent a millenia as an Angel without one iota of sexuality, other then that I was made in the image of a man. But it was that, just an image. I was neither man nor woman one way or another.

Now, as a vampire, I had a fair about of masculinity. There was nothing androgenous about me, as there had been when I was an Angel. And as it was no longer a sin for me to admit, I enjoyed having a dick. Even a severely unused one. I enjoyed being a man.

Even if I wasn't much of one. As far as erections went, I wasn't use to them. There were just things I didn't do. Sure, I thought about such things. A lot, if I were being honest, always from a third-person point of view, and never with any sort of intent. But I was a thinker, not a doer. I was sure this had been established.

And here I sat with an erection. A cognitive erection wrought from thought, from idea, something that had never happened to me before. Sure I had had them, the innaprorpirate erection that sprouted from nothing more then adjusting myself or my jeans rubbing me the wrong way. They were not made of cognitive thought, of curiosity. This, however was.

It was her. Her mouth, her words. Her pale legs. She brought forth ideas, and imagery I had never allowed myself to consider, and now I could not rid myself of them. And to my alarm, I found that I didn't want to. My curiosity wanted to know what could come of such ideas, of such imagery. She had done nothing more then say the word blow job, and I was sent into a spiral of indecision and confusion, and a bloody fucking erection I had no idea what to do with.

Well, I knew what to do with it, I just....I didn't do that.

"Peter?" Bella's some what frantic voice snapped me back to Earth, "Peter? Gods, I'm sorry, I didn't mean...are you okay? I didn't mean to offend you, or startle you or something, but could you come down, because you are freaking me out. Look I'm really sorry, just I...would get off the ceiling now?"

I opened my eyes, and found myself looking down at Bella, and to my dismay, her shirt as well. For the first time in my life I couldn't ignore the presence of proffered cleavage, perfect, proffered cleavage. Or at least, as perfect as I might have imagined, had I ever bothered to imagine it. How the fuck had I ended up on her ceiling? Fuck, there was something wrong with me.

"_I'm _sorry." I muttered, letting myself drop to the floor, "I don't know what happened?"

"You shut down!" She breathed, "You went full Vampire Undead on me. Stopped pretending to breath, stopped moving, stopped blinking. Just froze.. And then all of a sudden you were sitting on my ceiling. Cool trick, by the way. Is that your gift?"

Gift? Oh yes, "Sort of, yeah."

"I'm sorry. It's obvious you come from a time with different ideals, and really I can respect that. I didn't mean to push you." She leaned forward, resting her palm against my knee, and it took everything I had not to startle at the warmth alone. "You really have been alone a long time haven't you?"

"I wasn't offended, I was surprised, is all. Really, I've no thoughts on sexuality one way or another, it's rather personal isn't it? It wasn't that. It's just...I...I'm not use to talking so freely, of things like this. So sometimes I am not entirely sure how to respond. When the only company you have is yourself, you're really no fucking good to others. I hadn't realized I zoned out on you."I felt compelled to answer honestly, and without dissembling, "I haven't had a decent conversation in nearly one hundred years. I think I'm out of practice. I don't feel that I fit in particularly well with other vampires. And your the first human I've known beyond a name and a death date."

She squeezed my knee once, before withdrawing her hand, "I understand that. I'm neither Vampire nor Werewolf, but I hardly belong amongst the humans. Neither of us, it seems, are well socialized. I guess I should warn you that I sometimes say things that aren't entirely appropriate. Some of these meds make me a little...apathetic. I just...don't realize what I am saying, and how wrong it probably is. But even before my brush with the Undead, I wasn't good company. I've always been a loner."

"So here we are socializing among the unsocialized?" I asked sardonically, willing myself to calm down. I wondered how often I spaced out in my own house, quickly realizing that I found myself on the ceiling quite often. Just...thinking. Such a sad fucking life I lived.

"Birds of a feather and all that," She said, waving her hand. She opened up a drawer in the end table revealing a plethora of orange bottles, "Though I don't think you can medicate neurosis out of a vampire."

"What the fuck are all those?" I asked incredulous, watching her line up her arsenal along the edge of the table. "Jesus Christ Almighty, you take those daily."

"Most of them yeah. We have your basic mood stabilizers, serotonin inhibitors, dopa-mine inhibitors, anti-anxieties, anti-phsycotics, mood suppressant's. Uppers, downers, over and unders, I say. I'm like Alice in fucking wonderland." She lifted two bottles shaking them in her hands and said with a sing-song voice, "One to make you taller...one to make you smaller...."

"And all of those are because you are mentally unstable? Because of Vampires?I think perhaps I should be going. I don't think I'm doing you any good." I said, staring at the line up of pills. Something very bad had happened to her, and I had no intentions of adding to her pill count.

"You don't want to, though." She said, narrowing her eyes. "You say your going, but your going to perch your ass outside my bedroom once again, and we both know it's true."

I opened my mouth to deny it, but snapped it shut immediately. I didn't know that I wouldn't, and it alarmed me. "Regardless, I should be going."

"If that's what you want," She sighed, "You can stay if you like. Honestly, watching me from outside my window can't be all that interesting. If you stay, you can ask me all those crazy questions swimming in your head. The ones not pertaining to my history with The Sparkley Ones."

I sat back down, folding my hands in my lap, "Your very strange."

"I know, right? You should totally see what I'm like off the meds." She laughed, "Speaking of which...." She leaned over to the side table, digging deeper past the array of orange and white.

"So what's wrong with you then?" I asked, before I could stop myself. It was a rather personal question, and I hardly had the right to ask, "You don't have to answer that, if you would rather not."

She shrugged her pale shoulders, "It's fine. They are my mind-meds. See, I'm not exactly what you would call mentally stable. Then again, I chilled with vampires and run with wolves, so what can you expect?"

I felt guilty for the girl. Humans were not meant to dalliance with the supernatural. She didn't seem mentally unstable to me, but then again, I wasn't a doctor. Nor was I exactly stable myself. "Something very bad happened, I think."

She looked off into the distance, as if to recall a memory she had long since put to rest, "No. I was a teen age girl who thought she was in love. But the boy wasn't a boy, he was a vampire. And I let it hurt me, and I hurt myself in return. And when you do destructive things and start hearing voices, people heavily medicate you. People find the need to squash those darker desires, those darker urges. Next thing I know I'm on anti-everything. I'm the Anti-Bella,"

She paused, riffling through the drawer, "Oh and I take a sleeping pill too. Without it I have a tendency waking up screaming bloody fucking murder." She added, picking up the brightly colored plastic thing, and popped several pills from it, into her hand.

When I realized what it was, I couldn't help but smirk at the irony, "You take your pills from a Dracula pez dispenser?"

"I'm cool like that." She said, swallowing all seven pills at once, and chasing them with water. "I was diagnosed with mild schizophrenia, server depression, and Bi-polar disorder. I think they were trigger happy on the diagnosis gun. Not saying there isn't anything wrong, but I don't think I'm that bad. I think I had every right to be depressed."

"Oh." Was all I managed to say. I mean, what do you say to that? If I were human, I'd be afraid of her. Regardless, she frightened me a little non the less. "Why do you have to take them?"

She sighed, shaking her head, "I mentioned jumping off a cliff. Well apparently attempted suicide is frowned upon around here. I wasn't thinking right, and well, sometimes I did stupid and reckless things so I could hear His voice."

"Who's voice?" I asked, though it was hardly the first question on my mind. His voice? Gods voice? God rarely talked to humans, but it wasn't entirely unheard of. Still, if it lead her to cliffs, it probably wasn't the Big Man. Did she still hear voices? Were the voices real? Because honestly, I heard voices as well, hundred of Angels buzzing around my head. I couldn't really judge.

"The Vampire ex-boyfriend. Ah! No questions" She halted me even as I opened my mouth, "I realize now that I wasn't _losing _my mind, I was giving that shit away. I was actively seeking out The Voice. It wasn't that I believed he was there. I knew it was just my head. But I was having a goddamn mental break down. Sheer and total abandonment will do that to you. So I jumped off a cliff, and a werewolf dragged me out of the ocean, half dead. But not before another Vampire could take a snap at me."

"Another vampire?" I asked curiously. Seriously, how many did she know? Being that it was law she didn't know about any of us, she was fairly well acquainted.

"That's a question, but I'll let it slide. The trackers mate. Red headed bitch. She got her panties in a twist and decided revenge could only be found eye for eye. My mate killed hers, so she was hell bent on killing me. Except, I wasn't any one's mate, any more. She didn't seem to care. She's dead now, so is her friend."

"Her friend?" I thought she said her mate. Seriously, I was fucking lost, her drugs must be kicking in.

"Oh, the vamp chick sent a friend before hand, on a recon mission. You know, get the lay of the land and what not. He decided I smelled to good to pass up and tried to eat me in a meadow. But the Pack took him out."

"So, how many vampires have tried to drain you?" I asked as casually as I could. It was hardly a casual question.

"Well, if you count my boyfriend, five."

"The tracker, the mate, the friend, the boyfriend and...?"

"The last one doesn't matter. He didn't mean it. Actually, I'd say he's the most innocent out of all vampires. Seriously used and over looked. I never knew him well, but I respected his struggle. " She said, tugging at a lock of hair to examine her split ends. She wasn't the least bit phased by any of this. If I were a human who had been nearly drained by five different vampires, I'd be all sorts of messed up.

But taking another glance at the Dracula Pez dispenser, I guess she didn't escape unscathed. I wondered if her medication numbed her to the point of indifference.

"How did he not mean it?"

She sighed, "He just didn't. Quit asking questions. I don't want to talk about him."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine. It's a touchy subject, is all."

She reloaded her pez dispenser for tomorrow, setting it back into the drawer. She looked up at me abruptly with a critically eyes.

"It's all a bunch of crap. So I was a little sad, and I heard a few voices. Maybe I went into what some people might consider a catatonic state. Now I'm a husk of a human. I mean, even if you wanted to drink my blood, Peter, I doubt it would taste very good what with all this medication. Either that, or it would fuck your shit up. If your depressed or something, let me know, my O negative here will perk you right up. "

I doubted that _it would fuck my shit up_, as she put it. "I don't want to drink your blood."

She shrugged again, "I figured as much. If you wanted it, I'd be dead already." She said so nonchalantly, I was taken aback.

"Are you not afraid of death?" I asked, quirking a brow. It was an intersecting concept. As both an angel and a vampire, I had come to learn normal humans generally fear death more then anything else. Though this human could hardly be considered normal.

She smiled, looking towards the ceiling fondly. I idly wondered if she was thinking of God, "At this point, Peter, I'm just waiting. Waiting to meet the Maker, be done with this shit. I'd welcome the respite. Maybe it's in heaven, maybe purgatory, or hell. I don't know what I deserve, but it's better then this. Half a life on a dead line."

I sat silent staring at the strange human. What the hell do you say to that? In all honesty, before the obvious medication, I was sure that she was a little crazy. After all she just invited a vampire in for a little chat. It seemed pretty crazy to me. And then there was the pez dispenser. That right there just seemed condescending. I couldn't figure out if I was amused, or offended.

"I'm going to go make myself some pop corn, feel free to hang around. You can tell me about yourself! " She said cheerily, hopping out of her chair, and striding off into what I presumed was the kitchen. The monotone beeps and the hum of the microwave were all that could be heard, besides her heart beat and breath, but I doubt she listened to them.

Should I stay, or should I go. It was the question. But the last thing I needed to be doing was singing 80's songs by the Clash in my head. Get it together Peter, you have decisions to be made. Stay, or go. It's easy. You could walk away now, and this could be done with, leave the human in peace...Pick one. Fuck....

"Stay," was all she said, and it was enough direction for me. Did she know I couldn't decide? Did _I _know I couldn't decide? Did I want to stay?

Yes. I think I did.

Weird.

She plopped down onto her leather chair, pulling a faded quilt around her, "So, tell me about yourself. I've got popcorn and about oh...I don't know, ninety minutes before I fall asleep."

I chuckled, "You expect me to sum up one hundred and fifty years in ninety minutes?" I asked, as she chomped.

"Cliff notes, Peatie, cliff notes. And what we don't get to today, we can get to another day."She said happily, eyeing me expectantly, "Well, go on."

I paused, wondering whether I wanted to talk about Maria, or not. It would hardly be beneficial, and it would probably only scare her. I _decided_ not to. And to my surprise, it was an easy choice. I didn't dwell on it, I just decided it. Very strange indeed.

"I think you'll be disappointed. My story is hardly entertaining. I was changed in South Mississipi in 1863. I lived with a large coven, and our Matriarch had less then moral ideals. My sire found his mate, and we parted ways. I lived in Texas up until now."

"Wow. That was incredibly boring." She said with a big fake yawn. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"I did warn you." I paused, tilting my head, "I've come to the conclusion it's time for me to live my life. I can't recall a time in my life when I really did anything for myself."

She smiled, "I understand that. Believe it or not, I use to be rather dispassionate about my choices as well. Don't get me wrong, I am a stubborn bitch, but I was perfectly obliged to have my choices made for me. It's no way to live."

"I've never known another way. I've never had to make decisions on my own. Some days I find it hard to pick out my own clothes." I admitted absently, "I have no idea why I told you that." I said with a frown. Seriously, why the hell did I say that out loud?

She leaned forward and patted my knee, "Don't feel you need to censor yourself for my benefit. So, your one of the Chosen Ones? A gifted vampire? Tell me about that, oh Defier-Of-Gravity."

"Um. Yes. The ceiling thing, I don't know if that's really a gift or just a flaw in my make-up, like the no scent thing. Really, I think my gift is more like...knowledgeable foresight."

She groaned, "You can see the future? Thats just fucking great. The world does not need two of you." She grunted, throwing a handful of disgusting buttered pop corn at me.

I flicked a piece back at her, "No. I'm not a Seer. I am just, on occasion, granted a vast amount of knowledge about certain things. For example, I know all about the Quillette werewolves. I have never met them, nor before you, had I ever met any one who met them. But you say the word werewolf, and I know. I also know that the chair you are sitting in belonged to your father, who passed away three years ago from stomach cancer."

"It was. He loved this chair enough to actually include it in his will, the old bastard." She nodded, rubbing a finger along the worn seam of the recliner, with a fond smile. "Neat gift. What's it say about me?"

"Nothing." I said, letting the voices roll over my mind, sifting for something related to one Isabella Swan. "It's almost as if you don't exist, though you obviously do. It's one of the reasons I became so...intrigued by you."

" Obsessed is more like it. Your not the first to have trouble reading me though. Vampire Ex Boyfriend couldn't either. He was a mind reader, it was the reason he became so obsessed with me as well."

"I'm glad it isn't just me then." I replied lightly, "Thought something was wrong with me."

To that Bella laughed, "There is plenty wrong with you, Peter, and I should know. Takes one to know one, right? I have a feeling we were both thoroughly fucked in life and now are attempting to bask in the proverbial afterglow of said fuckage and trying not to get fucked again."

I swallowed back a flood of venom, alarmed that I found the excessive obscenities falling from her lips, erotic of all things. "I haven't been fucked in a while. I don't think any one is trying to fuck me."Jesus fuck. Obviously my brain and mouth were working to fuck me over, apparently. I would have blushed had it been biologically possible. Hadn't been fucked....what the hell was I talking about.

Bella belted out a loud laugh, her cheeks red enough for the both of us, "Oh Peter, that's great. No, but seriously, people will always try and fuck you. It isn't something you can prepare yourself for, just be ready when your pants are suddenly yanked down."

* * *

**A/N So, Bella may not be Peter's singer, but he's singing for something. We learn a little about Peter, and a little about Bella. He needs direction in his life, and had come to a startling revelation about latent hormones. Bella, well maybe she isn't so crazy after all, just misjudged and over drugged. Not to say they don't have there own plethora of problems though!**


	5. Pedopire

**A/N this chapter is for my girl, Catonspeed. Feel better soon, you're fuckery is needed!**

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 5/?  
Author: Lifelesslyndsey  
Category: Twilight  
Pairing: Bella x Peter  
Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.  
Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons  
Word Count: 4,951  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Previously on Once Bitten, Twice Shy**

_I swallowed back a flood of venom, alarmed that I found the excessive obscenities falling from her lips, erotic of all things. "I haven't been fucked in a while. I don't think any one is trying to fuck me."Jesus fuck. Obviously my brain and mouth were working to fuck me over, apparently. I would have blushed had it been biologically possible. Hadn't been fucked....what the hell was I talking about. _

_ Bella belted out a loud laugh, her cheeks red enough for the both of us, "Oh Peter, that's great. No, but seriously, people will always try and fuck you. It isn't something you can prepare yourself for, just be ready when your pants are suddenly yanked down."_

**Peter Three Pee Oh....Vee.**

Bella drifted off to sleep as predicted, curled up in her fathers leather chair. She looked different as she slept, the hardened exterior built by layers of medication and grief softening, melting away to reveal a tiredness set bone deep. For all that the years sat heavy on her, she looked so damnably young when she slept. I wasn't sure of her age, even as unsocialized as I was, I knew that wasn't something you asked. Mid-twenties, I thought, but with eyes beyond those few short years.

Setting her half-eaten popcorn on the end table, I pulled the thread bare yellow quilt off the back of the couch and laid it across her oddly contorted body. It couldn't be comfortable, sleeping in a chair, and I considered, if only for a moment, carrying her to her room. Then I remembered that I shouldn't know where her fucking room was, and dismissed the idea entirely. Hesitating at the door, I had no idea how to proceed. Tomorrow was never discussed, giving little away of Bella's intentions. She had mentioned pursuing a friend ship or something, but I feared wishful thinking on my part. And after todays bout of story telling, it was clear the last thing she needed in her life was another fucking vampire. I could leave without word, and never come back, leaving Bella to her medicated peace. Or I could come back, and bask in the mind-boggling sense of companionship I had found after only a day, something that had been lost on me for one hundred years.

My last feeling of comradery had fled me with the departure of my brother, Jasper. He hadn't left a number, and I hadn't given him one, both deciding to leave our mutual future to fate. What a fucking mistake. I missed the fucker something awful, and wished him well every day, where ever the fuck he was. With a heavy sigh and the knowledge that this could very well end badly, I scribbled my number on a note pad on her key table. I wasn't leaving this up to fate. I was leaving it Bella.

My house was quiet, dark, an appropriate suburban crypt for any new age-vampire. Glowing sets of green eyes peppered the pear trees in my front yard. Apparently, if you feed them, cats became...devoted. As devoted as a cat can be. I poured food and water into several empty plastic bowls on my back porch, backing away slowly as they came flooding, alerted by the shake of the cat food bag.

The collective buzz of house hold appliances seemed louder in the silence, the sudden lack of conversation startling. One day beneath the mad attentions of the most flippant women I had ever met, and I was addicted. I flipped the light switch in the office more out of perfunctory habit then necessity, prepared to sketch out ideas of Fords' mustang-eco-hybrid-thing they had commissioned recently. The blinking red light of the answering machine diverted my attention quickly,reminding me morbidly of an oven timer, every blink screaming _'dinner's ready!_'

Sophia.

I was right in giving her a week. Her voice was timid but sure, as she rattled off the address to her condo on the west side, her breath wheezing from her chest in short puffs. Of course I already knew where she lived, having scoped the place out once before. Grabbing my coat, I trotted back to my truck, meal in mind. If I were to keep company in humans, it was probably better I keep myself well-fed.

Her porch light was on when prowled across the yard, my truck abandoned four streets down. I could see her through the window, pacing impatiently in a pale blue house coat and matching slippers. Another morbid thought infiltrated my mind, that she was dressed for comfort. She was, after all, expecting me. Dressed comfortable to die, now there was a thought.

Her house was modest, well appointed with eclectic mismatched furniture that could only be gathered over a life time. There were two pictures on the mantle, one of her parent Bob, and Mandy, and one of her brother, William, who was currently lodging in the Washington State Corrections Facility, and would be for a long time to come. I slipped silently through the back door, slipping silently into the kitchen.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, her cup of tea shattering against the floor, "Pah..pah..Peter! I...how did you get in here?"

I smiled calmly, guiding her by the elbow into the living room, "That isn't important, darling. I've come as you asked."

"Can I get you anything?" She offered, to which I silently declined. Sophia swallowed heavily, "How...how do you do it? What should I do"

"Rest assured, sugar, your part is easy," I turned to her, smiling gently, "It's better that I don't tell you, but I assure you, it will be quick and painless. Have your affairs in order?"

"I left it all to charity." She replied confidently, gripping the edge of the wooden rocker, "The profits from my house, my car, everything."

Something brushed against my leg as she spoke, and I looked down to find a small, naked, wrinkly thing perched lazily on my boot. It took me a full moment to decide it might have been a cat of some sort. "Your cat?" I asked, seeking confirmation to this absurd conclusion.

She sighed, "He's young, he'll find a new home." She replied weakly, misunderstanding my inquiry, " I....I don't want to wait anymore. I'm tired. I just...I want to rest."

I nodded solemnly, nudging the cat off my foot, willing the vampire in me to the surface of my skin, "Come here." I purred, "Come here, Sophia." I said again, hand out stretched.

The reaction was automatic, the pull of the allure, the dazzling sensation, had her walking slowly to me, trailing a hissing oxygen tank in her wake. Her trembling out-stretched hand met mind weakly. The feel of her skin was like old paper, dry and rough.

"Your safe," I reminded her, tilting her head upwards by her chin, to expose the expanse of sun-weathered skin that made up her neck. Gently, I pulled the oxygen tubes from her face, letting them fall to the carpet with a muffled _thunk_. Her light brown hair was laced with grey, and her tired eyes were chocolate. The familiarity of them startled me, and my cool demeanor momentarily broken by my own sharp intake of breath. This wasn't Bella, of course, but a human no less, and it left me with a strange pang, old guilt bubbling up inside me. This was what I was, I reminded myself, and the best that I could do given my circumstances. This was what Sophia wanted, she had called me, she has accepted my offer.

That I had given Bella such a familiar option was not lost on me. There was irony in that I did not feel like analyzing any time soon.

I swooped down quickly upon her, teeth piercing the parchment-like skin of her throat, a hot knife to butter. Sophia's blood was bitter, but not unpleasant like I remembered wine to be. She melted in the circle of my arms, her knees losing the battle to keep her slight self upright. She weighed little, the cancer ridding her body of all excess. As the blood flowed freely, her life slipping away, I was filled with the knowledge, the fleeting memories and moments of her life flickering past like an old film, grainy with time, lapsing and jumping through out the years, details lost and memories missing.

It happened with all of them. It always had, even with Maria. Every expanse of flesh I bit through filled me not only with blood but with_ life_. Their lives fueled the continuity of my own. Often I felt as if it wasn't just the blood I fed on, but the memories, the real-life memories I never had a chance to have. Her heart thudded to an end, body falling limp in my arms, and I carried her easily to her to the kitchen, laying her out on the cold tile floor. Pulling the small, unregistered pistol from my pocket, I pressed it tightly against her already torn flesh, pulling the trigger without hesitance. The impact of the bullet marred the obvious impression of teeth to an unidentifiable, gaping wound, and the echoing shot would alert the neighbors. I hated to thought of leaving any of my victims alone to rot. No one deserved that. Dark red blood seeped through her clothes, trickling to the floor, mixing with the spilled tea. The whirl of brown and white raced along the grout between the tiles, inching there way farther from her body like the spread of spider webs The coroners would question the lack of blood, but the investigators would pass it off as an abandoned clean up job.

With several minutes to spare, I rushed to the bathroom quickly spotting my target. Bottles filled the medicine cabinet above the white pedestal sink, like with every good cancer patient, every shelf packed full, the small chemical comforts which kept Sophia alive this long. I grabbed some, purposefully knocking others into the sink. It was easy enough to believe a junkie had broken into her home, looking for a fix.

As I stood in the living room, surveying the scene for anything incriminating, the hideous deformity that was considered a cat made a second appearance, blood tipped whiskers twitching irritably. God made jokes. This cat was one of them. Without hesitance or pause it perched itself on my foot once again, head butting against my pant leg. I couldn't help but stare at it, as it looked up at me with big, green eyes full of accusation.

I was filled with the disgusting knowledge that this creature had watched me kill it's master. And now it looked at me, with sad eyes, licking blood from it's lip, no doubt wondering why it's master was lying lifeless on the kitchen floor. And what was a cat without it's master? Was it anything like an Angel without a God? I'd killed the cat's Higher Power, it's Sargent General. I left it alone. And it was a freak, even among it's own kind, and I'd killed it's owner, some one who do doubt never judged it for being so vastly different. I did not want to relate to the hideous little beast, but I did, and I resented it with a deep seeded passion utterly wasted on the cat. The stupid cat. Stupid fucking cat.

"Your young. You'll find a new home." I told it, diplomatically, to which it replied with a blink and a nose lick, "I'm terrible company. I'm a mass murder, I _kill_ people, regularly and with very little remorse. You don't want to come home with me."

"_Meow._"

"You wouldn't like it. I live in the Cat ghetto. The things are vicious. They would eat you alive. Wouldn't you prefer a nice country side villa or some shit? Maybe some one with kids? No, seriously. _No_." I said more sternly, nudging it off my foot. It's tiny claws bit into my Italian leather boots with a vengeance, "I said no!"

_"Meow."_

"Don't you dare fucking shit in my truck." I growled, sliding the mushy pile of skin into the pocket of my coat and slipping out the back door.

_"Meow."_

As if to spite me, Cat shit in my truck even before I pulled out of the neighbor hood, forcing me to drive all the way across town with the gut-wrenching stench of animal feces in the seat beside me. I imagined it was reaping some small revenge on me killing it's owner, and I just wasn't having that. "Look, she asked me to, okay? It was going to happen sooner or later. I can't belive you shit on hand stitched leather upholstery. Have you no fucking shame?"

I was talking to the cat.

I had lost my fucking mind.

!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!

Bella left me an absurd voice mail three days later, instructing me to stop my pacing, and bring my sparkily ass over to her apartment because she was preparing herself to watch the entire third season of Buffy on DVD, and she wanted a real Vampires 'personal and unadulterated' opinion. Bella assured me that I was welcome to visit her apartment any time it should strike my fancy. She finished this in a mock-stern voice, informing me that if at any time my presence should suddenly insult her delicate senses, she would not be remiss to inform me.

I found myself lingering on her door step at two in the afternoon, having kept in mind her rigid morning schedule. She greeted me at the door in a white Goonies t-shirt and tattered grey sweats cut of at the knees. "Hey you!" She chimed, her brown eyes glossy with the heavy gleam of medication. She was high as a fucking kite. Her thin, spidery fingers clutched my forearm, urging me in side. "Come on! I'm half way through season three. Buffy just found out that Angel is back from Hell."

Angel. Angel was a vampire, apparently. I had yet to admit I hadn't watched the show, or any show really. She already found my laundry list of idiosyncrasies humorous, and telling her that I had never owned a television would only fuel that fire. Though I harbored quite the extensive movie collection, which I watched on my lap top, television had never captured my expansive, bloody-fucking ancient attention. When you harbor illicit secrets of the universe, 90210 has nothing on you.

Angel was a vampire, though, I quickly discerned by the hideous facial deformities and extended, yellow fangs I has seen on the DVD case Bella had clutched in her hand. The very thought of it caused a mad chuckle to escape my lips, as I followed Bella into the living room. She had abandoned her chair for a pile of blankets on the living room floor, staring up from her belly at the T.V. like a child might, a fresh bowl of pop corn tucked into the circle of her arms.

"Lose the trench coat, and get down here." She demanded, patting the spot beside her, and the words, innocent on her mouth, flared up with all different kinds of connotations in my mind. When had I become so desperately depraved? Oh, that's right, three days ago. I hung my coat on the peg behind her door, before lowering myself cross legged beside her.

"Angel is my favorite." She informed me quietly, an hour into our impromptu marathon, munching her pop corn quietly. Her hands dug through the bowl, subconsciously plucking out the heaviest buttered pieces. I couldn't help but find more entertainment in watching her, then I found in the show. There was some sort of novelty to be found in watching her eat.

"Why is that?" I asked, emulating her stage whisper. The situation seemed surreal to me, sitting in a nest of blankets in the apartment of a human I had only really met the day before, pretending to watch a series about a vampire slayer, of all things. It was the most entertainment I had had in a profound amount of years.

She shrugged her slender shoulders, never tearing her eyes away from the thirty-two inch plasma screen as she spoke, "He's a _good_ bad guy. You know, he's a vampire and all that, but he's a big old softie. My vampires were like that. They were good guys. Well, they were." She finished, with heavy emphasis on the past tense. I asked no questions, holding strong to the promise I made her to not pry in her history, loath though I was to know so very little of her.

"We're all the bad guys Bella." I replied quietly, the truth of the words sinking inside me like a fresh corpse in the Hudson River. Sure it would bloat and rise up to surprise me later, but now it just sank and sank, and sank, taking me with it.

She craned her neck to look up at me, the loose tendrils of her hair falling into her bowl, ensnaring kernels like octopus tentacles "You're not a bad guy, Peter."

"You don't know me." I reminded her gently, wondering what it was behind her gaze that made me want to squirm. I didn't squirm, I wouldn't squirm, but the very human desire to do so flared up inside me with a vengeance, clawing away at my insides, begging for relief.

Bella smiled loftily, "I know what I see, and I don't see a bad guy."

Unable to hold the heat of her stare, I turned my gaze towards the T.V. "Because I'm beautiful? Because I'm not horrifically deformed, winged and, fanged?"

"Angel doesn't have wings, Peter." Bella scoffed. Ignoring my question entirely, Bella turned back to her pop corn, a puffed kernel touching her lips, waiting, as she spoke, "Were you beautiful before you were changed?" She asked, watching as Buffy sank another thick, wooden steak into the chest of Vampire Number Three.

Was I beautiful before? I wasn't sure. The faces of Angels were carved from the likeness of God, just as man was, but we were incapable of invoking the same feelings of attraction, in either fellow Angels, or humans. "I'm not sure. I wasn't as pale, and I had blue eyes. I don't think my face was as defined."

"Strong. You have a strong jaw. It's manly. You remind me of a gay lumberjack." Bella cut in, her face serious. "Or a pedophile."

"Pedophile!?" I sputtered, glaring down at her with indignation. "Why a _gay _lumberjack?"

"Because your hair is assaninely immaculate," She said, sitting up, "Seriously, I just want to...." Her hand reached up slowly, inching it's way towards my head, and I stiffened as her fingers slid home, nails scratching across my scalp. It felt like nothing else in the world. I had denied myself even the most simple of pleasures, and this was so disgustingly wonderful, my cock was straining in my pants. Depraved. Fucking. Lunatic.

"Your purring," She giggled, continuing her ministrations through my hair. She gripped a handful of my fringe, pulling it upward forcefully, and I couldn't help but imagine her doing the exact same thing under different, more naked circumstances. What the hell had happened to me? I was hard, and purring at the hands of a over-medicated human. "There," She finished with a playful ruffle, "All better."

"Less gay?" I asked, resisting the urge to flatten my hair. I could feel every single fucking strand and follicle standing at attention like good little solders, pointing every which fucking way. However, I had no longing to look like a metro-sexual version of the Brawny paper towel guy. And I really didn't want to look like a creepy child molester either.

"Less gay," She confirmed, rolling onto her stomach, "Leave it alone." She added, catching my hand creeping upward. "Seriously, leave it alone. You can't have that hair _and_ wear a trench coat. I half expected you to offer me candy, and try to convince me to get in your van. And I like your trench coat, it's kind of sexy so the hair must go."

I grumbled, "I am not a pedophile." Fucking hell, I had sported the same hair for the last fifty years. Had I been walking around looking like a sex offender the whole fucking time. At least she found my coat sexy, I guess. "Dammit." My hand smoothed my hair furiously, and Bella was up and at my side in an instant, slapping my hand.

"I said don't touch it!" She shrieked, digging all ten of her fingers into along my scalp, and_ oh God_, that felt good. The full swell of her breasts were pressed against my shoulder, her breath hot against my neck. She fisted handfuls of my hair, tugging them in every direction, a little satisfied _hmph_ escaping her lips when she deemed herself finished, sinking back down onto her belly in the nest of blankets.

Her smile was smug as she munched on her popcorn, waiting for my hands to stray upwards again. I resisted, mildly attempting to immerse myself in the cheesy horror that was Buffy, it was enough to quell my rather resistant dick. I didn't think I could handle her touching me again, without some how embarrassing the holy fuck out of myself.

Suddenly Bella sputtered, spraying partially masticated kernels across the hard wood. "_Aw nasty."_ She hissed, the scent of red hit me like a mac truck, and I found both Bella and I were staring down into her bowl, the freshly puffed kernels speckled with red.

"Fuck, not again." She muttered, "Get out of here, Peter." She hissed, hand covering her nose. Her blood smelled delicious, but off, like food turned bad. "Seriously, go."

"I'm okay, " I told her, "I fed last night. Are you okay though? Let me get you a towel." I offered, ghosting to the kitchen. Soaking the corner of a dish towel in tepid water, returned, handing it to her gingerly. Though my throat scorched, demanding that I suck her dry, the urge was relatively easy to squash down. I was more concerned then anything else.

She was sitting upright on the floor when I returned, her small palms cupping her face, blood flowing freely down her wrist, dripping from her elbow with a startling loud _plink plink plink_, before absorbing into the heavy cotton of her sweats. She took the cloth, one end pressed gingerly to her nose, the other end used to wipe away the excess from her skin.

"Shouldn't you tilt your head back?" I asked, kneeling before her. Her shoulders were tense, arms drawn tight to her body, and the trickle of her fear bled into the air. She was afraid of me.

"I'll puke." She explained, "It drips back into your throat, which, for a human, is pretty fucking gross," She teased, though her throat worked overtime, swallowing back her anxiety.

I sighed, "I'm really not going to hurt you. Look at my eyes?" I asked, assuming she understood the dilation process behind vampire hunger, "Red as ever, right?"

"Yes." She answered quietly, "You fed since I last saw you?"

I nodded carefully, gauging her reaction as I spoke. This would be a test of sorts, I thought, "After I left the apartment. I don't feed often. Once a month, maybe. Never more then twice."

Her fingers toyed with the edge of the blanket beneath her, the blood-soaked wash cloth muffling her breath, "How...how do you pick them"

I sighed, leaning back against the softa. This was a moment for truth, I thought, though it was rare that I lied. "I told you that I have...knowledgeable foresight, as I called it. I choose my victims based on how long they have to live. Cancer patients, mostly. When I get it in my head that there time is up, I approach them, and offer to end there pain. Most accept, but I've had a few decline the offer. I don't like to kill people, and though I can't justify it, at least there is some sort of morbid sense of peace in what I do."

She nodded, lowering the towel from her face. Her lips and chin were streaked with half-matted blood, "You're offering them a choice." She said, sensibly, "To die with a sort of dignity. Maybe not dignity, but by there own decision and not because some disease said so."

"I had never thought of it that way, but yes, I suppose that is what I am doing," I agreed, "They all taste like shit, but I think that's a small price to pay for killing them."

She chuckled, standing up. Running her hands through my hair once more, she just smiled, "I'm going to go get cleaned up. Hang around, okay?"

Bella ducked down the hall way and into what I presumed to be the bathroom. The shrill ring of her cell phone broke the silence, running water muffling the conversation I wasn't actively trying to hear.

"Yeah, I checked it this morning....No. It's almost done. I can have it on your desk by Monday. Kelly...." Bella sighed, "Yeah, I made the appointment. Your my publicist, not my fucking nanny. Uh... I got another one today. It wasn't that bad, your being dramatic. You _are_ dramatic. This is just as bad as when I got the speeding ticket. Yes, Kelly, I am taking this more seriously then I take my driving record.....Wednesday. Why do you even ask? They are always on Wednesday. Have I ever let you come before? Fuck!" Bella growled, "Will it shut your fucking trap if I call Jacob? Fine, I will. Jesus Christ woman, I am fine. No...I'm fine, really. Wait, I went grocery shopping. And to Walgreen's. Does that count? Then no, I didn't go anywhere or do anything. Monday, Kelly. Promise. Well, it's Friday now, Elaina has it. Because she's the Editor, Kelly, why the fuck else would she have it? Look, I have company, I have to go. NoI am _not_ lying! I have to go! I will talk to you tomorrow. Yeah, I promise. No, I'll call you. Kelly, please, I'm handling this. Okay. Okay. Yes. Tomorrow. Yeah, I really have company. A guy. No, he's pretty hot. I couldn't tell you, I haven't seen it yet. What do you want from me, woman?I'm not going to whip out a fucking ruler and measure his dick, Peter are you listening to my conversation?"

My head snapped up, guilty written all over my face. Bella's was standing before me, amused grin on her face, her phone no where in site. I had no way to know for certain where her conversation with this Kelly person ended, and fucking with me began.

"Not intentionally no." I replied cautiously, "Hard not to, really. If it helps one way or the other, I couldn't hear the other end of the conversation."

Bella grinned, "Kelly is my publisher. Nosey lady, love her to death. I just finished Blood Moon. She calls every day to check up on my progress and harass me about various shit."

"I really didn't mean to hear you, " I reiterated, " However, I couldn't help but hear you'll be calling the werewolf."

She shook her head, before sinking down onto the couch, "Nah. I'm not really going to. There is no point in having Jacob drive from Forks just because I have a doctors appointment. I have one once a week."

"Therapy?" I inquired some what gently, "You don't have to answer that."

She shrugged, "You know I'm kind of bat-shit crazy, ain't no use in hiding it from you. I go to therapy once a week, yeah."

There was some sort of underlying evasive quality to her answer, but I didn't want to pry, "So. We've watched Buffy slay the vampire, what next?"

Her eyes twinkled as a grin spread across her face, "How's your aim?"

* * *

A/N I have a banner for this story now! I made it mostly in Paintshop, so yeah. Link on my profile. As well as a picture of Peter's new friend Cat. This was mostly filler, I know, but we are looking at a time jump soon so I wanted to get some bonding in. Love ya darlins!


	6. Liarpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 6/?**

**Author: Lifelesslyndsey**

**Category: Twilight**

**Pairing: Bella x Peter**

**Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.**

**Rating: Mature audiences only for Language **

**Word Count: 4,787**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but a strange imagination.**

**Be Thankful to my beta lacym3 , without her, everything would read like crap. She didn't even make you all wait till tomorrow! Come now, class, all together, _"THANK YOU LACY!" _**

**A/N ** Props to **lalibare **for thinking I am awesome.

_DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON WHAT BELLA WILL CALL PETER'S CAT!!!!! Go to my profile to cast your vote~!_

_**Previously on The Days Of Our Lives....er....Once Bitten,**_

_Bella grinned, "Kelly is my publisher. Nosey lady, love her to death. I just finished Blood Moon. She calls every day to check up on my progress and harass me about various shit."_

_"I really didn't mean to hear you, " I reiterated, " However, I couldn't help but hear you'll be calling the werewolf."_

_She shook her head, before sinking down onto the couch, "Nah. I'm not really going to. There is no point in having Jacob drive from Forks just because I have a doctors appointment. I have one once a week."_

_"Therapy?" I inquired some what gently, "You don't have to answer that."_

_She shrugged, "You know I'm kind of bat-shit crazy, ain't no use in hiding it from you. I go to therapy once a week, yeah."_

_There was some sort of underlying evasive quality to her answer, but I didn't want to pry, "So. We've watched Buffy slay the vampire, what next?"_

_Her eyes twinkled as a grin spread across her face, "How's your aim?"_

**POV**

"It will be fun," Bella said, throwing doe eyes my way. "I haven't been around in a while."

A shooting range. A mother fucking shooting range. Crawling with people waving loaded fire arms around. She was fucking insane. We... yeah, she was insane, but this was ten different kinds of crazy. I knew she loved an adrenalin rush, but why bring a vampire to a blood-fest? My nerves were shot, and I was sure that I was twitching more then any respectable vampire should, but I was Freaking. The. Fuck. Out.

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked. "You're taking a vampire to a place full of both guns and people. This doesn't seem safe. Bella, is this safe? I don't think this is safe. Human are generally stupid and do stupid human things. You know this, you're a human. Some one is going to get shot, and then what? A nose bleed is one thing, a gun wo----"

"Sorry, can't hear you," she chimed, pointing to the industrial grade safety ear muffs strapped tightly to her head before cocking her gun with a grin.

Setting aside my perfectly fucking rational panic, I focused on Bella instead. She had changed her sweats for loose fitting jeans, but her Goonies shirt clung tight to her body. The words _Truffle Shuffle_ were stretched across her chest, cracked with age and wear.

She had pinned her hair up out of her eyes and away from the silly, clear safety goggles. Her feet were squared, lined with her shoulders, arms straight, leaning slightly forward. Her aim, for a human, was perfect, and she nailed the target nearly every time at two-hundred feet. She steeled herself for the gun's kick, never losing her stance. It was impressive for a five foot something weighing no more then one hundred pounds soaking wet. The gun was old, police issue, engraved on the butt of the grip_ C._. Her dads gun, I knew.

Several men, whom I assumed knew her by their referral to her as 'Hells Bells', swarmed behind her booth, all looking at her ass as she fired off her shots. She ignored them with good grace, finishing her rounds. I refrained from talking to any one, though I did hear some one ponder what kind of AK I might be packing under my 'Columbine-Coat'.

"Human moment," Bella mouthed, sliding her gun into her holster. I leaned against a vacant wall, watching people mill about with fire arms in their hands. This place made me fucking nervous, even with the extensive list of protocols. I liked protocols. Protocols were good. I had lived my entirely life by rules and it worked for me. At least no one was drunk.

I waited, suppressing the unnatural urge to flee. It made no fucking sense. I shouldn't have been so...not intimidated, per say, but unnerved by the presence of so many humans at once. There was certainly no reason for me to fear them. I did this, I did this all the time. I shopped, on occasion, I made moderate appearances in public. This was no different.

Of course it fucking was. I was here with Bella. I had never really been any where _with_ any one else.

Minutes ticked by, and well...as creepy and fucked up as it was, I knew Bella didn't take that fucking long to piss. I listened through the crowed for her familiar scratch soprano.

"Come on Bells..."A gruff voice carried just slightly over the loud, incessant chatter. I slipped through the crowed effortlessly, following the chemical scent of Bella.

"Jimmy, seriously, my friend is waiting for me," Bella growled, her heart beat rising rapidly. "I told you no." A growl built up in my own throat as I closed in on her scent, floor cleaner, fear, and pure loathing.

"You never even gave me a chance," this Jimmy person pressed. "Come on, baby, don't be li......shit, shit, shit, I'm sorry. I'm going, I'm going. No means no, I get it. Seriously don't ta---"

"Is there a problem, Bella?" I asked, stepping around the corner. A short, portly man with a neck beard had Bella backed into a corner, but his arms were up in the air like a bank-robber caught. Bella's grin was feral, her hands gripping what looked like a tazer....

Directly on his crotch.

"Nothing I can't handle," Bella said, shoving Neck Beard back, and her tazer back into her bra of all things. That hardly seemed safe to me.

Neck Beard shifted uncomfortably, eying me with hesitance. He rubbed the back of his hairy neck warily, and I smiled just a little to hard. He flinched, and I only smiled harder.

"I see you brought a friend," he choked on his words as I loomed over him, narrowing my eyes with a very _you-hunt-deer-I-hunt-you_ gleam.

"I said as much, dumb ass, "Bella said. "This is Peter. He can hit the red zone with the back target," she said without preamble. Neck Beard scoffed, apparently losing his well-placed fear. He rolled his eyes, and clucked his tongue against randomly spaced yellow teeth.

"I can't even I can do that girl, ain't no one at the range done that. That must be five hundred feet. Ain't no way without a snipers riffle," Neck Beard said with a grunt, sizing me up with a squinted glare. "Sure as hell no prissy boy in a neck tie could."

The words were out of my mouth before I even knew I was speaking, and I remembered there was a reason I avoided people. Bella wasn't exactly a model of social interaction, and apparently she was rubbing off on me. "Better a neck tie then a neck beard, I could shoot that target with my eyes closed."

Bella snorted, whispering so low I was sure only head it, _'Neck Beard! Good one!'_

Neck Beard glared, clucking his tongue again, "Uh-huh. You want to bet on that?"

Bella's eyes lit up, and she stepped in between he and I, "What are you willing to bet, Jimmy?" she asked eagerly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The little shit looked like a kid on Christmas.

Glaring between Bella and I, Neck Beard scratched his patchy facial hair, "$100 if he wins. He gets three shots. If I win....you go out on a date with me."

Bella's grin became feral, her slender fingers clutching into my arms with excitement, " $300, and if you win, I'll kiss you in front of your Momma."

Neck Beard sputtered for a moment, before turning several shades of red. He pulled off his oil-stained ball cap, to run his hands through his thinning, orange hair. Bella's face was victorious, and even I couldn't help but be a little amused.

"Clocks ticking, Jimbo, take it or leave it," Bella sneered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Snapping out of his stupor, Neck Beard pulled himself up straight, "Dinner at my Momma's house, and you behave like a lady," he reiterated quickly, after seeing the Bella's devious face. "He ain't gonna hit shit. My momma's gonna love you, Bella."

"You got yourself a deal. Come on Peter, you're playing for my honor," Bella said, handing me the earmuffs, and slapping me on the ass. I bristled, and glared at her through my contacts, but, with her, such displays were always in vain.

I was blindfolded, which amused me highly, for I could see through the thin black fabric as easily as I could see without it and Bella no doubt knew this as well. But for sake of the game, I closed my eyes, lining up my arm by memory.

The target was five hundred feet ahead, half a foot ball field, and roughly six by six feet. Now, I was sure that some humans could probably work this out with the right amount of skill, but it didn't look like an easy feat. The Red Zone, as Bella had called it, was a grapefruit sized circle dead in the center. It was nothing more then a speck at this distance to a human, but it was crystal fucking clear to me. This was a mother fucking cake walk, and had the guy not been a creep, I would have felt bad. Maybe.

Bella really wasn't any kind of role model.

He was going to be eating dinner alone with his Momma tonight.

I fired off three rounds, making sure the third one was just a little to far left. Wouldn't do to have them all hit the same fucking spot. Bella squealed behind me, "Got three hundred dollars, got three hundred dollars, got three hundred dollars!" and I didn't have to look at her to know she was dancing like a fool.

As I turned, setting both the gun and the protective ear-ware onto the table, I found myself pressed against a support beam, fingers fisting the front of my coat, and her mouth was on mine, warm and dry and holy fucking shit Bella was kissing me.

Me.

It was over faster then it began, and Bella went back to her bouncing and gloating. When I pulled of the blindfold, Neck Beard paid her out in twenties, fives, and ones that smelled like dirty strippers. I was silent through this exchange, contemplating my own personal, previous exchange.

My skin tingled, and I suppressed the girlish fucking urge to touch my mouth. It still felt warm and foreign and I swallowed, not knowing what to think of this. I was a thinker, not a doer. Not that I had done anything...really. I had been done unto, not that I...not that I...that I...I didn't know.

"Peter?" Bella's voice broke through my fog, and I found that we were already in the car, and driving down the highway. "I...I'm sorry I kissed you."

"Are you?" I asked genuinely curious. I couldn't be insulted, I hadn't made up my mind whether I was upset or not. I knew I shouldn't be upset, I mean, all she did was kiss me. I probably wasn't, seemed stupid to be so, but then again...fuck. I didn't know what I was.

She bit her lip, lashes fluttering, "If it upset you yes. I don't...I mean, I wasn't thinking. I didn't think that...I don't know. I'm sorry if I upset you, I guess."

I stared out the window, grasping at any available distraction, "I'm not upset."

"You're very quiet," Bella noted. "I don't know what that means, so I'm assuming your upset."

"I'm not, I don't think. Stupid thing to be upset about," I grimaced. "First kisses are always weird, or so I've heard."

Bella looked at me blankly as she slammed her breaks at the red light, hitting the steering wheel with an 'oomph' before the seat belt could lock, "_First kiss_?"

I sighed, staring out the window. Why the hell had I told her that? Never had I wanted to take up lying more then I did in those few moments, "I have said before, there are many situations in which I am not...competent in. I'm a genius, my I.Q. cannot be calculated. I know nearly all the secrets of the Universe, I mean, I'm book smart. But I only have the knowledge, not the experience. I don't do things. I think things. So...there are some experiences I can't understand given my nature as a vampire, and my nature before. This is one of them. Sorry."

"Sorry?" Bella killed her engine in the driveway of her flat, "Sorry? What the hell are you sorry for?I....I damaged your virtue! I mouth raped you! I ruined it!" she nearly bellowed, throwing her hands up, wincing when they hit both the steering wheel and the roof of the cab.

"You did not mouth rape me," I laughed, how could I not? Virtue, indeed, if she only fucking knew, "Really Bella, having my virtue damaged, as you put it, isn't really that bad. It's embarrassing that it was my first kiss if anything, I'm a twenty-eight year old human, a hundred and fifty year old vampire and a mil---" Oh shit.

"A what?" she snapped, grumbling to herself.

A millenia old Angel, come on Peter, you can say it. If she can. "A millionaire," I _lied_.

Holy fucking shit, I lied. I lied, I'm a liar, a lying liar. Well, it's not _technically_ a lie, I was a millionaire.......

Bella groaned, "I ruined your first kiss."

"It doesn't matter." I rebutted, sensing my mistake even before Bella screeched out her accusatory reply, finger wagging in my face.

"So you admit I ruined it!"

I sighed, ghosting around her car even before she could open the door. It wasn't the wisest thing to do in broad, but cloudy, daylight, but I didn't sense any onlookers.

Pulling her out of her car by her elbow, I lead her up the walk. It was her lunch time, and I knew she was hungry. "Drop it, okay? I am not upset, more like surprised. I'm happy that it's over with, and not another thing looming over me whispering 'you're a freak among freaks'."

Her look was reproachful as she headed for the kitchen, "You're not a freak, Peter."

I had no verbal reply, but raised one eyebrow instead. Bella rolled her eyes, "Fine, you're no bigger a freak then the rest of us."

"As far as you know," I replied, leaning against the counter as she shredded lettuce into a bowl. "But so far I'm an unsocialized, stalking, peeping, vampire virgin with a bunch of cats and no friends. If I were human, I bet I would live in my mothers basement."

Bella smiled, reaching over the black granite counter to squeeze my hand. Her touches were casual, but never failed to unnerve me. I had never really been touched. "I'm your friend," she reminded me quietly, "and I'm an over-medicated, occasionally suicidal, unsocialized, writer of Teenage Vampire Romance Novels. And all my friends are mythological beasts. So...there."

We sat out on the porch later that evening, watching the stars struggle to over-shine the city lights. Bella lit another cigarette, propping her feet up on the railing.

"If you could go back, and prevent being changed into a vampire, what would you have done with your life?" She asked, making smoke rings. They drifted upwards and dispersed, one, two , three, till there was nothing.

"I would have went home," I answered honestly, as honestly as I was inclined, "I wouldn't have had a choice."

"You wouldn't have wanted to?" She inquired, craning her head to look over at me, where I was perched on the parallel rail behind her.

I turned my gaze upward, unwilling to meet her eyes, "Family business, you know? I was always expected to follow in my fathers foot steps. As much as any of my brothers and myself could."

"Any sisters?" Bella asked, aware that the subject was uncomfortable, and willing to change it. She flicked her ash over the rail, leaning back in her chair.

I smiled. There were no women in Heaven. Technically, there were no men either, but all Angels were created in the form of man. "No sisters."

"Big family?" She pressed, before inhaling the smoke slowly. It danced on her lips, almost solid, almost corporeal, before flowing down her throat, into her body. She made everything so fucking sexual.

I shook myself, forcing my gaze once again, upward. My lips tingled, still, and it was stupid to dwell, but that was just what I did. I dwelled, and I was dwelling, like a pansy ass mother fucker, on that half-kiss. "Huge family. Doubt they even missed me when I was turned."

Her gaze flickered back to me, a half smile on the same mouth that half kissed me, "I doubt that."

I shrugged, uncomfortable beneath the heat of her eyes, "Maybe."

She turned away, taking another drag from the cigarette. The cherry burned hotter, falling onto her shirt. She flicked it away with ease, brushing away the loose ash. Her fingers picked at the hem, as she chewed her lip in thought.

"I'm glad I met you." She said, after an awkward and uncomfortably long pause, "I didn't realize how much I missed empty conversation."

"And here I thought we were being deep," I teased, walking a long the rail, to sit beside her feet. "It's good to talk. Sometimes I don't know what to say, though."

She kicked me lightly in the side, digging her toes into my thigh till I squirmed like child. "Those are the times we say nothing at all."

"We're silent a lot." I noted, succumbing to the strange desire to pinch her pinky toe. She squealed, curling her toes underneath my thigh.

"Sometimes silence says a lot," she said to the sky, "more then words ever can."

"Sometimes, it says nothing at all," I replied just as easily, and as if to prove our points, neither said anything, for what seemed like a very short eternity.

She stared at the sky, tendrils of smoke rising upward, escaping her mouth in slow, thick curls. She licked her lips, and I looked away. I felt...strange, some how. _Want._ That's what I felt. I wanted. There was very little I ever wanted beyond going home. But I wanted her mouth in the worst of ways, and I felt guilty for it. Ungrateful, maybe. She had kissed me of her own accord, and it wasn't enough. Wanting more made it feel cheap, even if it kind of was. It didn't mean anything, but I wanted it too. I wanted, God, it was wrong, but I _wanted_.

It was wrong.

My eyes followed the line of her legs, beginning where her foot was tucked beneath me, decked in knee high, brightly colored toe socks. She had quickly abandoned her jeans in favor of the gray sweats, leaving her knees bare and exposed. She was so pale, ethereal almost, but purely human. A thick white scar dashed across her left knee cap, dotted with smaller scars indicative of stitches or staples.

"I shattered my knee cap in the fifth grade," Bella said, shattering the silence as well. My eyes snapped up to find hers on me, "That's what you were looking at, right? The scar?"

"You have a lot of them," I answered, inwardly berating myself for getting caught staring. Staring was such a human thing to do, as was getting caught. I didn't have to stare, one glimpses and I had a person memorized, every scar, ever freckle, every flaw and imperfection. I realized, I just liked looking at her. I was a huge, and utter pussy.

She grinned, "More then I can count. I've never been very graceful. I always thought that it was something I would grow out of, but I didn't. I'm so clumsy, border on being disabled." She lifted her shirt up, and turned, exposing the length of her back and side, ribs protruding from her skin just slightly because she was to fucking skinny. A thin, pink scar wrapped from her shoulder blade, and just beneath her breast.

"Ice fishing with my dad a few years back. Just before he got really sick. I tripped coming out of the ice shack and caught my side on this jagged piece of metal. Twenty three stitches and a tetanus shot." She explained, reaching her right hand over to trace along the line. The movement lifted her shirt, exposing a baby-pink bra, that was so un-Bella I almost laughed. She scratched the scar absently, before shoving her shirt down, and pushing back her bangs to expose yet another scar.

"This one I got learning to ride a motorcycle with Jacob. Bled like a bitch, too. He wouldn't let me get back on the bike after that," she added, some what glumly.

"It was rather irresponsible for him to put a suicidal life long klutz on a motorcycle in the first place," I replied with my own half smile.

She shrugged, and stubbed out what I had counted was her third cigarette, "Eh, he was sixteen, and thought himself quite in love with me. That or he was just stupid. "

Bella, ever the chivalrous one, walked me to my car, against my many protests, "I'm pretty sure I can find it myself, Bella."

"Shut up." She grumbled, pushing me out the door. She was already bed-ready and medicated, "Let me do this."

I sighed, a strangely human habit I had been doing much to often the last few days. This was really only the second day I had spent with Bella, after all. "If this has anything to do with you, me, and mouth to mouth relations, I don't want to hear it."

She forced a serious face, choking back a laugh, "It has everything to do with mouth to mouth relations. Ours specifically. I ruined something that should have been special. I feel like I...stole something from you. I don't know. I feel bad. And it takes a lot for me to feel bad because I have medications for that. So...it's going to drive me insane until I fix it."

"There isn't anything to fix, Bella. I'm not upset, it's fine. I...was just surprised. I told you that. You took me by surprise."

"You didn't even get to enjoy it!" She breathed, exasperated. "You should have at least got to enjoy it."

"It wasn't bad," I assured her quickly. It wasn't good either, it was neither here-nor-there. Then again, it could have sucked, and I really wouldn't have known better.

Her smile was smaller when she looked up at me, more personal, a private smile that made me inwardly shiver, "I'm calling old-school Monopoly on this," she stated, perfectly serious. "I want a re-roll."

"A what?" I knew what Monopoly was. Of course I did. However, I had never played, it wasn't exactly a past time of angels, or vampire-soldiers. And it took more then one to play.

"A re-roll," She repeated, stepping out of the comfort zone and directly into my personal space, "a do over."

"Do what over?" I asked, still bewildered, and uncomfortable, and really, really hard, because beneath the chemical smell, Bella smelled really, really good. And she was almost pressed against me, almost touching me, almost on me, and God, what was she doing?

"I want to kiss you again," she said boldly, hands creeping up my coat, and around my neck.

"You shouldn't want that," I muttered, looking upward as an escape to not look at her, "you don't know me."

"Will you be back?" She asked, fingers lingering into my hair. I bit back a purr, because that certainly wasn't appropriate.

"If you want me back, yes," I replied, eventually. "This will make things weird."

She rocked from the balls of her feet to the tips of her toes, managing to make herself surprisingly taller, "Doesn't have too. I'm just fixing what I ruined. That's all."

"You don't have to."

"Yes I do."

This wasn't appropriate, none of this was appropriate. I met her in a grocery store, I changed her tire, I stalked her. We watched Buffy, and shot stuff. I was a vampire. She was a human. We were on day two of this vampire-humanship as she called it. Oh God, this wasn't appropria...._mphm_.

Her mouth was on mine again, and her hands were in my hair, fingers scratching at my scalp and I couldn't help but purr against her mouth. This kiss was just as warm and dry as the last, for which I was grateful, because any more and I thought I would die for a four hundred thousand and seventy fourth time.

My hands, unsure of what to do, rested on her hips, to scared to hold, and not willing to push away. She pressed her mouth harder against mine, and against every warning screaming in my body that this was wrong, I kissed back, still quite unsure, but strangely eager. Her hands tightened and her mouth opened, nipping at my bottom lip. Landing one more kiss on my mouth, Bella backed away, hands still on my shoulders, looking a little boggled.

"Right, well...I hope that was uh...better." Bella, manage to say to the front of my coat, before looking up, "Better?"

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Better."

Her smile was brilliant, as it always was, even with the slightly overlapping left incisor, and chip in the right bi-cuspid. "Call me tomorrow, okay. Don't let this make things awkward. That's an order."

** ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Cat met me at the door with an expectant expression. "Hey, I told you I would be a shit cat owner, what the fuck did you expect?"

"Meow."

"Well, as long as you understand." I mumbled, walking down the hall way. It followed happily, pouncing onto my lap as I sat down at my desk. "I have work to do."

"Meow."

"Go away."

"Meow."

"Dammit, Cat." I grumbled, picking him up by a hand full of his excessive skin and setting him on the desk, "Stay there, and don't shit on anything."

My mind was somewhere else as I sketched out the prototypes for Ford. Cat curled up on a wrinkled ball and watched me, licking at his hairless skin. Bella, of course I was thinking about Bella. The first kiss had surprised me, had confused me, had thrown me for loop. But the second kiss....I was _still_ fucking hard.

She had been careful, keeping her body from pressing against mine. Not that I minded, I'd have died all over if she noticed I was hard as stone. But her hands, she held me so tight it almost hurt. Almost as if she wanted more....but she didn't. She just wanted to put right what she felt she wronged. It wasn't...it wasn't anything to dwell on.

But I wouldn't be me, if I didn't dwell.

"It didn't mean anything," I said randomly, setting the second sketch into the pile, "she just did it because of the medication."

_"Meow." _

"But...that doesn't explain the first kiss," I mumbled, leaning back in my chair. "She was just...she was just excited. Happy. It didn't mean anything."

_"Meow." _

"She thought she...._damaged_ my virtue. God, I am a tool, aren't I? I was an angel, not a fucking monk. I didn't have a choice!"

_"Meow."_

I shrugged, as if Cat had asked an actually question. Sometimes, I wondered if he was, in his own way, "I don't know if I would have done anything different, had I the choice. Obviously I have the choice now, and I haven't done a damn thing different."

_"Meow." _

"Thoughts don't count. I can think about what ever I want. I don't act on them. And besides, I didn't have those thoughts until her."

_"Meeeooow." _

"She kissed me, anyways. I wouldn't have kissed her. So does that count? Am I doing things differently? Should I? I don't know. It doesn't matter. It didn't mean anything."

_"Meow."_

"Fine! To her. It didn't mean anything to her!" I laid my head on the desk beside Cat. "And even if it might have meant something to me, I don't know what it could have meant. It didn't mean anything."

Cat hissed, _"Rrrrow"_

I glared at Cat, who had readjusted himself into a pile in front of me, looking up with big green eyes, "Of course it didn't mean anything, Cat, we don't know each other."

_"Meow."_

I scratched his head, feeling the light rumble of his purrs vibrate though me, and wondered, somewhat uncomfortably, if it felt anything like when Bella made me purr. I hoped not. I'd hate to think I was giving my cat the equivalent of an erection.

_"Prrrrrrrrrow."_

"I'd like to get to know her. She...she's something else. Something I haven't seen before, and that is saying something, because I've seen it all. She seems just as lost as me sometimes." I cringed, as Cat licked my hand, sand paper grating across my skin. "She makes me feel things. Weird things. I never wanted anything, after I was changed. But I want to get to know her, I want...more. More is never good. I've been around enough to know that wanting anything generally leads to disappointment. Humans always set themselves up for disappointment."

_ "Prrrrow,"_ Cat replied, as I scratched beneath his chin. If only every one were as easily pleased as a cat.

"I like her," I admitted quietly, "I've never liked anything."

* * *

**A/N Awe the fluffy cuteness!**


	7. Sickpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 7/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language

Word Count: 4,744

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a strange imagination.

**A/N Hey Hey my lovelies! I have a few things to say, so listen up!**

Firstly, I am looking for some one who is awesome with HTML to make me a blog. I want a cool one, every one else has cool ones. Like Catonspeeds, so cool. And I am lame, and don't know coding. I am willing to bribe, of course, and you get the added bonus of saying you made me a blog, which, if I read some of your reviews correctly, would be really cool for some of you. So if you are super awesome at HTML And all that, and want to make me a super cool blood, let me know.

**SECONDLY!!!**

We at The Other Path, are looking for some one to play Edward in our RP. We need a sexy, broody bastard, full of snark and condescending haughtiness to play the spurned ex of Bella, who will be with Jasper ( for all you Jasper/Bella cannon lovers).

Guess who I play? Yeah, thats right, I play Peter. So if you want to play with me, you are at least 18 years of age, and you have a little free time to throw around, send me a private message! We are also looking for a Garrett, and some people to play The Pack later on.

So, do your thing, chicken wing. This shit isn't beta'd, by the way.

Anyway, we jump up a month in this chapter. Big things happen, my lovelies, big things.

_**Previously On OBTS**_

_I glared at Cat, who had readjusted himself into a pile in front of me, looking up with big green eyes, "Of course it didn't mean anything, Cat, we don't know each other."_

_"Meow."_

_I scratched his head, feeling the light rumble of his purrs vibrate though me, and wondered, somewhat uncomfortably, if it felt anything like when Bella made me purr. I hoped not. I'd hate to think I was giving my cat the equivalent of an erection._

_"Prrrrrrrrrow."_

_"I'd like to get to know her. She...she's something else. Something I haven't seen before, and that is saying something, because I've seen it all. She seems just as lost as me sometimes." I cringed, as Cat licked my hand, sand paper grating across my skin. "She makes me feel things. Weird things. I never wanted anything, after I was changed. But I want to get to know her, I want...more. More is never good. I've been around enough to know that wanting anything generally leads to disappointment. Humans always set themselves up for disappointment."_

_"Prrrrow," Cat replied, as I scratched beneath his chin. If only every one were as easily pleased as a cat._

_"I like her," I admitted quietly, "I've never liked anything."_

**Currently **

**PeterPirePOV**

I had learned quickly that Bella always returned home from therapy in a shitty mood. Tuesdays had become some what of a ritual for us. She'd rant, and I'd watch her lick ice cream off her fingers. I like to think this worked for both of us. It certainly fucking worked for me.

This would be the fourth Tuesday past. A whole month had gone by in a stream of popcorn and cheesy horror fics, since I had met Bella. Not a month since I first saw her in Wal-Mart whistling show tunes and staring down Vampires. Not a month since I stalked her down a high way and changed her tire. But a month had passed since I had sat in her living room, on her Dog-Couch, sharing snippets of our lives, and trying to decide what the fuck I should do. She stopped bringing up my week long stalking stint, and I don't bring up her pissing herself from laughing, on the merry-go-round-thing-for-a-quarter outside the organic food store. Who the fuck pisses themselves at twenty-six? Bella, apparently. Smelled horrible. And we were in my truck, of course.

Our days were never boring with Bella. Between pissing on entertainment designed for small children, fucking with red necks, and the small debacle involving go-carts and lysol, she kept us busy. She got a bug up her ass to do something, and we went and did it. It seemed that, though we were loath to leave the comforts of our homes on our own, we acted as some sort of shield against the world for each other. She had taken it upon her tiny self to show me the world as I had not yet seen it. The world as _she _saw it. And Bella made fun of fucking everything. No one was immune to her vicious comedic criticism. Not small children, not old people, not crippled animals. She roasted them all. Most of the time I was just disgusted, sometimes I' couldn't look away. Then there were the times I spent in mild-panic. Or choking on my own venom, because Bella disinfected everything, and the scent of bleach burned almost as bad as venom itself.

Our fourth Tuesday together came upon us with Bella banging her head against her front door, keys hanging from the knob. Her purse sat in a pile on the welcome mat, expelling all sorts of things from Pez dispensers to hand sanitizer to silly putty. Why on Earth she needed silly putty in her purse, I could never guess. I probably didn't want to fucking know anyway. One never knew, when Bella was involved.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." She mumbled between bang, bang, bangs.

I slid up next to her silently, leaning against the faux-brick siding of her condo-apartment thing. Her next door neighbor, Gladice, shot us a baleful look, as her , Miffy Puffkins, took a shit the size of a pomeranian on the rose bushes separating the small front yards. Pinning the old woman with a wide, white smile, I caught Bella by the collar of her shirt before she could bang her head again. Her neighbors were already convinced she was crazy with the security measures, this was not helping.

"Not talking about me, I hope." I teased, pressing my cool palm against the angry red mark developing like a bulls eye on her forehead.

I had found that Bella was a Toucher with a capitol 'T'. She was one who touched as often as she wanted to, and loved to be touched in return like some sort of affection starved abandoned cat. And I would know, now wouldn't I? The first few weeks were rather disconcerting, so often did I find her suddenly in my expansive personal space. But she popped that fucking bubble in a heart beat. Soon, I was only all to fucking happy to obliged. It was nice touching something you weren't going to kill in a few minutes, I had to admit. She smiled, and leaned into my hand, and I forced myself to viscously stomp down the happy-growly feelings that that insisted on burning inappropriately inside me. Now was not the time. Never was the time to burn for Bella. Those were sins meant for mortal men alone, and not identity challenged Vampires Angel hybrids, who found themselves on the bad side of God by a series of unfortunate circumstances.

"I'm waiting for you to say _'May the power of Christ compel you!'_" She giggled, looking up at me from around my wrist.

"What?" I blurted out, tearing my hand away."What? No. Uh...I brought your favorite." Well wasn't that smooth? Of course she wasn't talking in the literal fucking sense. I needed to get my shit together.

She peeked up at that, "Karmel Sutra?"

I held up the ice cream, grimacing at the name. Humans. They were all heathens. I was, at this point, no better of course. Bella had done me a world of bad, and I couldn't find it in myself to regret it. As long as I kept on the right line of Mild Sexual Deviant, I could live with my new and inappropriate thoughts. "And the pickle chips you like, you weird little freak."

"Says the vampire to the human," She said in a sing song voice, turning the key and grabbing up her fallen purse. "Tuesdays suck harder then a well paid prostitute."

"You say that every Tuesday." I reminded her, chucking her food-crap on the breakfast bar. The kitchen smelled of bleach and Windex, and not a little blood."Did you cut yourself on something?"

Bella's shoulders tensed, the only tell in her occasional obliteration of the whole truth. I never got the feeling she was lying to me, more that she was omitting details. But I couldn't bring myself to pry. She'd tell me what she wanted to anyway. I was as happy with our situation as I was going to get, considering I spent a large portion of it in a constant fucking state of confusion. And hard-ons.

"Nose bleed. It's dry in this house." She smiled, "Doc thinks it's about time to start weaning me off some of the drugs," She replied, and I could tell that it was the truth. She was a terrible liar, I wondered if she knew. "Says a few of them just aren't working like they use to."

"And you're upset? I can only assume from the face smashing." I asked, bewildered, handing her a spoon as she dug into the ice cream with her pink finger. "I'd have thought you would be thrilled."

She shrugged, licking caramel of her knuckle, strings of sugary gold clinging to her lips. It was obscene, this ice cream fetish of hers, and yet I couldn't help but enable her. After all, I bought the fucking shit.

"I...." She paused mid lick, letting her tongue slide across her lips slowly, whisking away the remanent caramel. Gripping the counter top, I hid my rapidly awakening cock behind the breakfast bar and willed her to knock that shit off before I impregnated her kitchen cupboards. I was fairly sure I could at least dent her granite counter tops with the four week old erection I was currently sporting. "I....I'm afraid I won't be the same, you know? I've been on them a long time. What if....what if no one likes me any more. What if I really need them? I'm....I'm afraid to feel anything, after all this time. What if it hurts?"

Something inside me clenched awkwardly, and I frowned, "It probably will," I admitted, "But wouldn't feeling something be better then feeling nothing at all?"

She laid her head in her hands, her hair creating a curtain around her face, loose strands sticking to the puddle of melted cream on the counter. Humans were so messy. "I feel things, sometimes. Like...I'm happy when your around." _Cue inward girly high pitched unmanly squeal, _"What if....what if when I get off them I ....what if it's not the same?"

"Oh." I paused, "_Oh_. Bella you can't....don't stay on them because of me. I mean....if you get off them and you realize that a friendship with a vampire is not in your best interest, I'll understand." No I fucking wouldn't. But I wasn't going to tell her that. I wasn't that selfish.

She looked up at me with strangely glossy eyes, "Thats not..."She paused, biting her caramelized lips, "I like liking you."

"Well good, I like that you like liking me." I sighed, tapping my fingers against the granite, "Bella, stop taking the meds. We'll take it as it comes. Good and bad and all that crap." I assured her, though I was feeling less then confident in the moment.

She smiled, one of the brilliant smiles that I felt wholly un-deserving of at times. "Thanks Peter."

I left Bella late that evening, for my ah...monthly appointment. I had found this sad bastard stumbling his way out of a bar on the South side, reeking of gin and death and desperation. Even without all his faculties, he had snatched my card out of my hands with his fat, grubby paws before I could even finish my melodramatic proposition.

Walter Freedmont was forty-six, morbidly obese, and dying a slow, and grotesquely painful death. He also requested that he be sleeping when I arrived. It never ceased to amaze me the cowardice so many men showed in the face of death, even the pretty sparkily Vampire face of perfection I offered. Nor did it surprise me the courage women showed in facing the same imminent doom.

He lived in a shitty run down house half an hour outside of Seattle, surrounded by forest and cars on cinder-blocks. I let myself in his unlocked door without a word, nothing but the blackness of night to shield me, though there were no eyes to pry regardless. His house reeked of poverty, depression, and human feces so strong I was forced to choke back a gag of venom that rose, burning in my throat. There were a myriad of other smells as well, rotten garbage, unwashed fat people, rotting flesh. The smell was over powering. If I were this man, I'd be eager to die as well. Walter Freedmont had relinquished his will to live.

Walter was asleep on the couch, his gelatinous, hairy, stomach hanging from the side, peeking out the bottom of his yellow stained wife-beater. I grimaced at the open, brown-crusted mouth sores surrounding his lips, blending into the splotchy rash that seemed to cover half his face. His foot rested on the arm of the couch, toes rotting with gangrene. He was a slob. A sick slob. A sick, dying slob. His hair was unwashed, matted to his head in thick, lanky chunks. His skin was filthy, coated in a layer of grease, dirt and filth. The idea of biting into that had me squirming where I stood and wishing desperately for some of Bella's hand sanitizer, or even her Emergency Spare Can Of Lysol. I'd rather drink a bottle of Purell then bite down on this man.

However, I had always forced myself to be un-biased in my choosing. This man needed the respite of death, and he needed it badly. He wasn't the best of men, transgressing several of the seven deadly sins. Gluttony, obviously, and sloth no doubt. But I wasn't here to judge, and Walter wasn't the worst of men either. He was just a man, a man with a dead line. Walter Freedmont was suffering from an array of things. Lupus. Diabetes. Congestive Heart Failure. It was the combination of the diseases that had cut his life short.

People with terminal Lupus were rare, and generally miserable. It wasn't the disease that killed them but the unstoppable train of symptoms; skin lesions, memory loss, photosensitivity, fevers, shortness of breath, hair loss, immunity deficiency, rashes, kidney problems, anemia, blood clots. The inability to fight off a kidney infection could turn lethal, you just never fucking knew with Lupus. Add to it Diabetes and Congestive Heard Failure, it was a surprise he made it to forty-six at all. Terrible disease.

Rummaging through my coat pockets, I found a loose wet-wipe Bella had taken it upon herself to keep in my pockets, should she find herself without one in the company of me.

I lifted his wrist gingerly, scrubbing at the molted skin. I dropped the wipe on the floor, before hesitantly sinking my teeth into the thick, fat flesh of his arm. His blood was heavy, coursing down my throat like a slow moving sludge. Sickly sweet with an excess of glucose, I choked it down, pull by pull, and suddenly the world spun. I wobbled backwards, feeling my limbs fall heavy at my side. I fell to my knees, stricken by the wave of nausea...nausea that crashed over me. The room spun in a swirl of colors, and I felt the hard scratch of filthy carpet scrape against my cheek as I hit the floor with a hard thud, arms to weak to even catch my fall. What the fuck was happening?

As I lay there, in the filth, I could feel the blood working achingly slow through my veins and I struggled to find some sort of lucidity. My fingers twitched at my sides as I struggled to drag them to my pockets, fumbling weakly till I found the familiar weight of my cell phone. Speed dial and speaker-phone were found after four sad attempts and I had never heard a more beautiful sound then her voice as she woke up.

"Peter?" Bella's voice was broken with sleep, crackling through the speaker phone, as I struggled to hold the receiver somewhere near my mouth, "Peter, it's three in the morning..."

"Bella..."I groaned, to weak to even roll over, and barely able to keep my head up as I spoke, "Fuck...Bella...something's wrong....I...I can't...."My words were cut short with the sudden upheaval of black, venom tainted blood, curdled and wet, splattering against the carpet from my mouth.

"Oh God. Where are you?" She rasped through a rustle of fabric, and I wheezed out the address.

"Out by the warehouse district, 5676 Southport, two miles past the train station, out in the sticks...."

"Just...I'm on my way." And the phone clicked, leaving me with the dull disconnection tone as my vision swam in reds and blacks and I fought to keep myself....awake? Alive? These things made no sense to a vampire.....

The vague sense of wood slamming against wood woke me from....the half lucid state I was in. Bella's blurry purple converses were all I could see, and I reached feebly, and in vain, my hands falling back to my sides even as I slurred out words, "Mmm Bellaa,"

"Holy shit." She muttered, "Peter, can you hear me?" She cooed, dropping to her knees in the filth and blood beside me.

"Mmmm," I groaned, lifting my head just so before the room lurched violently.

"Stay still, shhh. I'm here. Peter....didn't you smell the gas leak?" She asked, grunting as she rolled me to my back, "Oh shit."

Gas leak? Had I smelled leaking gas? I might have through the myriad of other disgusting and offensive scents reeking from the house. I had been anxious to feed and leave, to preoccupied by the job I had to do, to dwell on anything else.

"Jesus Christ, your heavy," She grumbled, hooking her slender arms beneath mine. My head lolled, chin snapping against my chest, and I never felt more useless in my life the moment I was dragged forcibly by a ninety pound girl out of a house.

She stumbled as we reached her car and I hissed, struggling at awareness, groaning, "Bella....I...I have to kill him.....he'll change....if we leave him."

Propping me up against the fender, she crouched between my legs. Her blurry, pale face swam in my vision, and she looked more like an angel then I ever had, "Peter," She murmured, brushing my hair from my fore head with tenderness I was wholly un-accustom to, "with that kind of gas leak.....He was already dead when you got here."

She worked slowly as she pushed and pulled me into the back seat of her car, laying me out like a drunk. My stomach flopped in side me, but I was sure there was nothing left to vomit up, save the strange wave of venom I was to weak to swallow, burning a trail out the side of my mouth. I felt...sick with heat, my own skin too warm to the touch to be anything but alarming. I was scared....I felt like I was dying.

The world was a blur of colors and lurches from then, the occasional murmur of reassurance from Bella. She held my hand through the seats, the pad of her thumb coarse against my skin as it smoothed circles on the back of my hand. It was all that kept me centered, as I fought a battle against the blackness that threatened the edges of my vision. I felt myself jostled and manipulated, but my state of unawareness had taken over, and slowly, the colors and lurches stopped, leaving the creeping black shadows free to swallow me whole.

I slipped in and out of varying fucking states of consciousness over a span of time I could not measure. This wasn't sleep, this was purgatory. A condition or process of purification or temporary punishment. It was a little bit of both, I thought. Bella was there, her chemicle scent invading my scenes, clean and crisps.

"Thats it," She whispered, hand cupping my jaw, prying it open gently. I was to weak to protest, and to trusting to question her. Bitter, hot fluid filled my mouth and I gagged, sputtering and choking, as she stroked my throat like a cat forced to swallow a pill, "Come on Peter....you have to drink it. Just...do this for me, please." She pleaded, her voice breaking in fear or panic, I couldn't tell, but I did as she asked, letting the dirt flavored liquid slide down my throat, washing away the taste of Walter fucking Freedmont.

When I ...woke, for a better word could not be found, I was instantly aware of the soft body tucked against mine, hair splayed out across my chest, as a stead stream of warm breath puffed against my skin.

"Bella?" I rasped, groaning as the shaft of light reflected off the scared and mangled skin of my shoulder. My bare shoulder. Why was my shoulder bare? "Bella!"

"Wha...What?" She snapped awake instantly, lurching up in our shared bed, "Peter! Oh thank god!'

I was pretty sure _that_ bastard had nothing to do with it.

Throwing my arm over my eyes, I groaned, "Whats going ahh----" My inquiry was cut short as my arm was ripped away, warm wet kisses pressing against my face, till finally she kissed my mouth with surprising force. I took back my previous assessment, maybe God _was_ giving me a break. Because Bella kissing me was nothing short of a God-Send.

"Your okay, your really okay," She breathed, kissing my mouth between words, and I had no idea what the fuck was going on, so I grabbed her face gently between my palms, stilling her, our faces inches apart, and I realized, she really looked like shit. Blood smudged her jaw, and her hair was a mess. Dark circles ringed her worried eyes, as she looked down upon me.

"What happened?" I asked, and she smiled, pressing her forehead against mine.

"You drank from a dead guy." She said, insinuating herself as close to me as possible, and though the contact was foreign, it was delicious, and even if I didn't understand it, I wasn't going to point it out, "And ....I don't know....it made you really sick."

"Yeah, I remember that part." I murmured, "What did you make me drink?"

She cringed, "Rabbit blood."

"Rabbit blood?!" I repeated in a shout, sitting up abruptly, and taking her with me. I caught her swiftly at the waist as she fell against me, inadvertently shifting her onto my lap. Best seat in the house, I'd argue. "That....what if that made me more sick!? You just...why would you do that?! You can't just do that!"

She looked at me, a little wrinkle between her eyes, "Why would it make you sick?"

I scoffed, "Because....because vampires can't do that. They don't do that."

Blinking, she shifted in my lap, her legs suddenly straddling mine, and the awkwardness of the situation hit home with me, as what could only be described as morning wood decided to make itself announced, "Of course they do. My old....coven....they all drank from animals."

I balked, unable to speak as I processed this new information, "The....drank....They could.....They survived on animal blood?"

Her arms wrapped around my neck as she buried her face in my shoulder. "Yes, of course. It was harder I guess, but they did it. I'm so glad your okay, I was so worried...."

I held her against me, "Thank you," I murmured against her hair, to scared to do much more, "For...taking care of me."

When she kissed me this time, it was different from the frantic kisses pressed to my face, or the kiss shared in her drive way a month ago. She kissed like she meant it, with passion and fury, and insinuating hands digging into my hair. I could feel her tears on my face as she kissed me harder, legs wrapping around my waist. I had never done this before, how had I never done this before? But I knew, had it been any other, any one besides Bella, it would not have been the same.

"Never, ever scare me like that again," She breathed, and I wiped away her tears with my finger tip.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, because I really didn't know, and that scared me, and this scared me, her in my lap, and me in her bed, and the smell of blood and death, and Walter fucking Freedmont still heavy in the air. She clung to me harder.

"I'm crying?" She asked, touching her face, and a little smile turned up her lips, "I...I haven't cried in years."

"Why now?" I whispered, because she whispered, even in the empty house, as if speaking out loud would ruin the strange kind of trance we had found ourselves in.

"I...I can't lose you too." She murmured, "Your suppose to be invincible, your not suppose to leave me. Don't leave me."

"I won't," I promised, resting my chin on her head, "All this..."I began to say, but I didn't know what the fuck to say, so I stopped, but I had already spoken, already broke the string that bound us to the moment.

"Oh," She blushed, attempting to scramble back and off my lap, but I held her anyways, and would continue to do so till I could no longer, "Um...I'm sorry...I know...it makes you uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable," I assured her, "Confused...I don't....what does this mean? For us....this is....Very friendly."I finished lamely, but she seemed to understand. "This is----"

"I like you." She interrupted, looking me dead in the eye, "And I haven't liked anything in a very long time. I haven't been....capable of liking. Of hating. Of feeling anything. But I feel for you, even through all the pills and the...walls...I've built and last night was just to fucking scary to pretend that what I feel is purely....friendly. Thats why I was afraid of getting of the pills...if I like you _now_...but I'm mortal, I don't have forever, and I didn't want to lie to myself, and I'm sorry....I know that you don't---"

"I like you too." And hadn't I said as much to Cat just a month ago? "I've never liked anything. Anything at all. And your confusing, and your rude, and loud, and messy, and you have some serious OCD issues, and I like you, and I miss you more then I should when I go home...and...." I tapered off, suddenly uncomfortable by my verbal vomit of admittance.

She grinned against my mouth as she spoke, "We like each other."

"Apparently," I murmured back, allowing the happy-growly feelings burn as hot as they wanted inside me, finding no need to viciously stomp them down into nothing, "A Vampire with an identity crisis, and a jaded, medicated human, each with a laundry list of idiosyncrasies."

"What a pair we make," She smiled.

I leaned back against the head board, pulling her with me, shifting awkwardly, "I should go soon. I have to take care of the body...."

She frowned, wrinkling up her nose, "I took care of that."

"What?" I asked, bewildered, "How?"

She shrugged, wiggling her toes against the small of my back, "I blew up the house. All it took was a cigarette, and at that point, I needed one. I mean....they'll find the gas leak and assume...."

"Thank you," I grumbled, "I really wish you hadn't had to...I...feel bad. Will you tell me what happened after you got me here? I mean, did anything really happen?"

She laid against my chest, head turned in towards my neck, so I could feel her breath with ever word she spoke, "Well, you kept throwing up this thick black syrupy stuff. After a while... I don't know....you were empty. Then you just kept...spitting venom. I think maybe your body was trying to flush out your system or something....You were really really hot, like you had a fever . " She breathed," I...wasn't sure what to do. I figured that dead blood was bad for you. There is actually a book about Vampires that says drinking form the dead will kill you. I mean...I don't know, you can't trust all that crap, but it seemed to be right. Either that or the gas poisoning fucked you up. Maybe because it wasn't oxygenated, I don't know, I could only guess. I knew I needed to get something inside you...around six this morning I found a pet shop....and well you know. I fed you the rabbit blood. Your fever came down, and you stopped spitting up so much venom...and then you woke up."

"Why am I naked?" I asked, feeling the heat of her blush against my skin.

"Uh...your close were filthy. They're in the dryer, if you want them. I washed you up a bit, you were a mess. His house was just...ugh. Bad."

"You saved me," I chuckled, "You saved the big bad vampire."

Bella snorted against my skin, "Well I'm not totally useless."

"No. Your not," I paused, "I know....I know I'm not suppose to ask about Them....but will you tell me...about them hunting animals...I...."

She drew back, "You don't want to hunt from humans?"

"No. Not if I don't have to." I closed my eyes, "I was...I was created in a time of destruction....carnage and war, and so much killing. I don't want to....I want to be good."

She nodded solemnly, fingers tracing the scars in my flesh, "You were....you were in the Vampire Wars....in the south...right? Thats where you got all these scars?"

"Bella..."

"I won't talk about them." She murmured, "But I've heard of Maria....of her plan and her....newborn army. And I've seen scars like these."

I breathed heavily, pre-functionary but relaxing, "Very few escaped."

"Very few wanted to, I should think, "She noted, "From what I was told...if you did as you were ordered, you were fed well and often. You didn't know any better....so you didn't leave."

"Yes." I conceded, "But given my gift...I did know better, and I just couldn't do it," I hugged her tightly, breathing in the scent of her hair, cheap shampoo and just Bella, "To learn that there is another way...."

"I'll help you. Anyway that I can. It's hard, I guess. Controlling your....craving.....is harder because you deny them. You'll have to hunt more often, but...I don't know. Edward said that in denying themselves human blood, they were able to regain some of there humanity. But your pretty....human to me. Your eyes will turn gold though, so you won't have to wear the contacts."

"I want to try," I said at length, "One day, Bella, I'm going to tell you about my past."

She smiled,leaning into kiss me once more, "I'd like that. But for now, what are you doing tomorrow? I think it's time we take a trip to Forks."

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**A/N Make sure you read my above A/N! And I know that Bella didn't actually learn much about Jasper till the later on, but we're just going to say that Edward told her about the Vampire Wars. Oh and did any one get the Anne Rice reference? **


	8. Twitchpire

**A/N Hey, I know I said I was going to try and update more regularly, but man, this chapter really did not want to come to me! And then I got a review on a story that wasn't really mean, but kind of made me feel like shit and I didn't want to do anything about anything, but I'm all good now, and here it is.**

**Okay, and this story is totally dedicated to Catonspeed. She is my Inspirepire, and I love her!**

**Also, I posted FOUR new one shots! Read them. Hush Little Baby is a Peterpire fic I wrote for the We Don't Need No Stinken Coven Contest being held by the Lambs. So read it, and if you love it, vote for it! I've never entered any kind of Fic-contest, so this is all new to me. **

**Show me the loooooove. **

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**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 8/?**

**Author**: Lifelesslyndsey

**Category**: Twilight

**Pairing**: Bella x Peter

**Summary:** Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating:** Mature audiences only for Language. THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS CITRUS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. SHIELD YOUR EYES AND BACK THE FUCK AWAY.

**Word Count: **5,125

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but a strange imagination.

This isn't Beta'd, so, if some one where to you know, point out in a **Private Messag****e** something I might have missed, with the paragraph pasted into the message so I know where to find the mistake, I wouldn't yell at them or anything. Just saying.

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_**Previously On OBTS**_

_"Very few wanted to, I should think, "She noted, "From what I was told...if you did as you were ordered, you were fed well and often. You didn't know any better....so you didn't leave."_

_"Yes." I conceded, "But given my gift...I did know better, and I just couldn't do it," I hugged her tightly, breathing in the scent of her hair, cheap shampoo and just Bella, "To learn that there is another way...."_

_"I'll help you. Anyway that I can. It's hard, I guess. Controlling your....craving.....is harder because you deny them. You'll have to hunt more often, but...I don't know. Edward said that in denying themselves human blood, they were able to regain some of there humanity. But your pretty....human to me. Your eyes will turn gold though, so you won't have to wear the contacts."_

_"I want to try," I said at length, "One day, Bella, I'm going to tell you about my past."_

_She smiled,leaning into kiss me once more, "I'd like that. But for now, what are you doing tomorrow? I think it's time we take a trip to Forks."_

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I was nervous.

"Quit fidgeting, "Bella snapped for the fourth time, an hour into our trip, "Seriously, you're a regular little Twitchpire today. It will be fine."

I rolled my eyes, forcing my hands still on the steering wheel as we raced down the high way, "You can't just tack on 'pire' to every word you think of and call yourself creative. Do you put this shit in your trashy teen age novels?"

"Sometimes. And I beg to differ," She said with a smirk, counting off on her fingers a growing list of pire-inspired names, "Peterpire. Catpire. Tirepire. Prudepire. Twitchpire. And if you think I'm done, you don't know me at all."

"Oh, you've got jokes, kid. You've got jokes." I grumbled, "Ha fucking ha. Have you warned your...Pack, that your bringing a Pire to the puppy party?"

She giggled, "Partypire. Good one. And that would be a big fat fucking no. Jacob is always better of uninformed. He tends too think to much. You guys will get along great. I mean, he can't hold a grudge for the life of him. He could hate you with a burning fucking passion, and you do one thing to get in his good graces, and it's all good. Seth crashed his car once, bought him a taco, it was all okay."

"Right...." I really didn't like having the current situation compared to a car crash and a taco, but it was to late to turn back now. She had convinced me to come, and I had caved like a pathetic little boy, and even through her upbeat pill-perked attitude, we were both a little wary. This would end badly, and we both know it.

"So, how'd hunting go?" Bella asked, poking at the lock button on the door repeatedly with a_ click-click-click-click, _"you should check out the Olympic Mountain ranges while we're in Forks. Get a mountain lion or a bear or something. Carnivore are suppose to taste better."

I grimaced inwardly, remembering last nights jaunt up to Lake Serene. Perhaps hunting just wasn't my thing. "I'm not sure if I can do it."

Bella chuckled, reaching over to take my hand in hers. Our fingers laced, the heat of her palm cupped and captures in my own and it seemed weird, and foreign, and I loved it. Since our....trauma inspired expulsion of admittance, we had been hedging around the edges of awkward, too nervous to make the first move of anything. This was like a line drawn in the sand, or a very creative way of saying, '_yes Peter, this is happening'_. Either way, I was far out of my own element, and Bella seemed just as aloof. There was some small comfort in that at least.

In reality, we had been skirting around the issue for a month now, and we were already weirdly comfortably in the presence of each other. It was the sort of comfort you normally only found old couples that had watched each other age, had witness the formation of every single line, wrinkle and gray hair, but still smiled at you when you woke up together in the morning. Against all odds, we had become attached to one another. We were like the weird neck-twins you see on TV that really only consist of hair and three teeth, but your pretty attached to them anyway. It was apart of you, just like an arm or a leg, there was no getting rid of it.

"You're a pampered vampire." She snorted, "A Pamperedpire."

Glaring, I ignored her play on words, and asked instead, "What the fuck do you mean by that? I'm not pampered, I eat sick people. They all taste like shit. You saw Walter fucking Freedmont. And I've eaten _worse_."

She squeezed my hand, sending waves of warmth up my arm and inevitably straight to my cock. I couldn't help it, I didn't even have it in me to be alarmed by it any more. Bella meant erections. Bella touching me meant worse erections. They were, at times, painful, but I still couldn't bring myself to self-servicing myself. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Well, thats really true...I know where to begin but....anyway, I digress. If I had no reason to wear a trench coat before, I certainly did now.

"They serve themselves up on a silver platter for you. There is no hunting, no luring of the prey. You literally walk up to them, say '_hey I want to kill you, that cool?'_ and they nod there heads eagerly, and beg you to come as quickly as you can."

Snorting indignantly, I huffed, "That isn't....that isn't totally true. Shut up." And fuck me sideways if she wasn't kind of fucking right. I was a shitty sort of vampire. Though I wanted to argue that I was selective in my hunts, there really was no hunting involved. I didn't even have to look for a victim, the knowledge of who was up just came to me.

She was grinning like a Cheshire cat now, smirking over the dash board. Her hair was caught in paint brushes this time, the slim wooden handles speckled with teal and brown paint splatters and I couldn't recall Bella every painting, so I couldn't really fathom why she would have paint brushes, but she did, and I wanted to pull one out of the mess of tangled curls just to watch her hair fall around her face, but she spoke and ruined the moment she didn't know about, and maybe that was okay too.

"Did you totally make a big fucking mess? Like...blood all over. The boys use to make such a mess. I can't fucking stand blood."

I had noticed this as something of a new trend with Bella. She spoke of her vampires more and more some days. I was half heartedly tempted to ask for names, if only so I could hunt them down and kill them all for mutilating her so thoroughly. But we all knew, at this point, that I was shit at hunting. If you can't hunt a human, you certainly can't hunt a vampire.

"Hey, wait?" I paused, stopped short by her off handed comment, "If you can't stand blood how did you manage to skin and drain a rabbit?"

She visibly cringed, knuckles clenched white against her knee. "Well, I had to, didn't I?" She said with frank authority, I immediately wondered what kind of vampire she would make.

And those were dangerous thoughts.

But she had killed and drained a pet-store rabbit in some strange attempt to save me. Hell, she _had _saved me. If that wasn't obscenely emasculating, I couldn't be sure what the fuck was. I had my ass dragged out of a house by a little girl. But she did, and it mattered, and we were here now, hand in hand, heading towards her home down, and her quasi-family, and I couldn't help but lean over and kiss her square on the mouth, undaunted by the menial task of driving.

It was short and hesitant, and even a little embarrassing, because as always with Bella, I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. And we had kissed, sure we had kissed, sometimes awkward, sometimes frantic, there were so few kisses I could count them on my hand, but each time I had been so caught up in the moment that I hadn't had the opportunity to glean anything from the experience and I felt strangely naked in my lack of knowledge on how to kiss a girl. I was thousands of years old, it was ridiculous.

I snapped back with an awkward grumble, focusing my eyes intently on the road, "Uh...."

"You kissed me." Bella said, quite bluntly, re-lacing our fingers, and beaming me a hundred-watt smile.

"Um. We've kissed before." I reminded her, shifting in my seat, wondering if I had crossed a line I had not noticed. We hadn't explained the basis of our....relationship, if that was what it was, and I wasn't sure what rules applied. I liked rules. I needed them. There were no fucking rules. What the fuck were the rules?! "Am I not allowed?" I asked, the alarm in my voice more evident then I would ever fucking care to admit. I was a tool. And she was laughing at me. Guh.

She snorted, "Well yes, your allowed! It's just...you've never kissed me before. I've kissed you. We've kissed, but you've never kissed me."

And that was true. I had never allowed myself the choice or decision to kiss her of my own free will, rather the allow myself to succumb to her assault. It was in that moment, I realized that I had chosen Bella. She was not my destined path, for I never really had one beyond the scope of Angel of the Lord. And I was no Angel. She was my choice.

So I kissed her again, just because I _could_.

She pulled back looking a little dazed, and I was sure I looked a little smug. She smacked me on the arm and grumbled, "Pay attention to the road."

* * *

** *Squiggly line time warp, we are now in Forks.***

**

* * *

  
**

"It's very....."

"Green?" Bella supplied with a grin, pulling into a small, two story house. "Yeah, I thought so too."

"Green is one way to explain it." I agreed, grabbing our bags out of the back of the truck, "I was going to say small. I am not sure this is an acceptable environment for a vampire Bella, I am sure to draw attention."

She merely shrugged, leading us up the pink-stoned path, and shoving her key in the lock, "If any one asks, say your a cousin to the Cullens. You've got the whole God-Like-Glow going on, it's feasible. It will be a while till your eyes change, but with your contacts, no one will ask.

Cullens. Cullens. Cullens. She had said the name before, I thought, but it had never raised any warning bells with in me. And now, they screamed, blood curdling shrieks that I was missing something important, and the fact that I was missing anything at all disturbed me on levels unimaginable. Cullens. Cullens. Cullens. I couldn't get a grip on anything about them, as if, like Bella, they did not exist. I toyed with the idea that perhaps they were too tied up with Bella for me to see, and that was plausible. Well nothing and everything was plausible, really, because my knowledge never really made sense. It just was.

But the Cullens....it sat wrong with in me in ways I couldn't explain.

"Your really going to have to work on that," Bella said, looking up at me from the floor. Our bags sat in a neat little pile by her feet, and I was once again on the ceiling. "Are you okay?"

I let myself summersault back to the floor, landing neat and light, "I....these Cullens, this was your Coven?"

"Yes." She said immediately, but hesitance laced her voice heavily, "Why do you ask? Do you think you know them?"

"No, I just...I don't know. They don't sit right with me." I offered feebly, reaching out to hook her fingers in mine. It was such a strange, instinctual gesture that I was quite surprised to find her smooth, warm fingers lacing with mine, swaying between our bodies as a smile tugged on her chapped lips.

"Well," She said slowly, drawling out the word, "Thats probably because they all suck."

And that was all she said on the matter.

* * *

_***squiggly line scene warp***_

_**

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**_

I was nervous.

I was still nervous.

I was nervous again, anyways. And I felt totally and completely entitled to my anxiety. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be meeting the Alpha, beta, whatever Jacob Black was, of the largest pack of shape-shifters in my history as a vampire. Not to mention, he had some how dictated himself as Honorary Big Brother to Bella, which, she explained to me, was better then Stalker Number Two, in Bella's life.

She had clumsily warned me that he would be angry, and perhaps violent, and maybe even whine like a little bitch, but he would not attempt to hurt me. As if he fucking could, but I didn't really think I could stuff and mount Bella's best fucking friend like I might a rouge vampire.

Because the goal here was getting Jacob Black to like me.

Bella sighed, reaching over from her half of the couch to grip my thigh. It was so weirdly innocent that it bordered on intimate in a way I couldn't explain as she flicked her neatly clipped nails flicked against my the neat seam of my slacks just inches above the inside of my knee.

"Peter," She sighed, "it will be okay. Jake is a hot head, but your breaking out is stressing me out, I'm kind of already on edge."

And it was like a switch was hit, smacking me in the face with a new wave of guilt. It was only natural that she would be on edge. She had lowered the dose on two of her medications today, and no doubt her body was rebelling in protest. She looked a little tired, and I felt a little worse.

"Fuck. I'm sorry. I'm being an ass." I muttered, slipping my hand over hers. "Are you doing alright?"

"I've been worse," she said with a little, private smile. "I'm a little jittery, and my minds all over the place, and I can't focus on anything but you, so that helps."

"Me?" I have to ask, mainly because I am an ass hole, and because I'm kind of surprised, and flattered.

She smirked, a little snort escaping her, "Yeah you and all your fighting. You look like you don't know what to do with yourself."

"I don't," I confessed, watching her hand escape mine and make it's way like a tricky five-legged spider walking up my arm, fingerprints burning into my cool skin because there is just something different about the way she's touching me that is not like any other time.

"Me neither." She said, her brown eyes gleaming with some sort of wicked intent, very similar to the look she got right before she did something to embarrass me in public, "I think we need a distraction."

In the back of my head I know this is leading me somewhere, but my brain didn't want to process that information, choosing instead to ignore it entirely because some part of me must really enjoy being blatantly confused so fucking often.

So when her finger tip brushed the little juncture beneath my ear, my eyes widened. She traced the curve of my ear, up and down till I felt my self rumble with an emasculating purr. Her hands slipped down my neck, hooking themselves in the collar of my shirt, and she yanked herself _up_, unable to pull me down, seating herself comfortably in my lap.

It was unnerving.

With a wiggle, she pressed her stomach against my chest, looking down on me, her hair still caught up in the ridiculous paint brushes. I reached up blindly, pulling one as I had wanted to in the truck, sending the other clattering to the carpet in a tumble of messy brown curls that curtained both our faces.

And her mouth was on me, not on my mouth but on my neck, touching places that had never been touched, and certainly not by a mouth, except for maybe when I was changed. And that was a sad thought I didn't want to dwell on, that the one and only other mouth that had ever been upon me had been a man, my brother, who promptly killed me and brought me back, sending me out to annihilate villages.

Bella's mouth was just as hungry, pressed against the juncture of my neck and shoulder, feeding from me in an entirely different way. I was at a loss as to what I could do, what I should do, what was appropriate, but some latent human instinct that lied dormant inside me until this moment flared with a vengeance, and my hands slipped up her body, touching, just touching. Touching places I hadn't ever thought to touch, like the soft underside of her arms, and the harsh bone of her hips that peeked out over her jeans, and the curve of her ass, where it melted into her calf, I touched and I touched, and oh God, she was incredible.

Even in my thoughts I wondered if I was actually talking to God, and if I was, I didn't care, he deserved some sort of thank you for creating a creature like Bella, persevering and perfect, with an ass that made Angels groan. Damned and fallen Angels, anyway.

Without thinking, I hooked my thumbs in her belt loops, pulling her closer to me, because any distance might have been a mile, because it was to much, and I felt too hot, and it felt to good, and she was grinding and oh God, I was a sick mix between depraved and deprived wanting things I had never wanted. I could smell her, she invaded me, and it was all I could do to kiss her where I could, on what ever flesh was offered, shoulders, neck, wrists, throat, it was all I could do to keep up with her, and I couldn't keep up with her. This was fucking Bella. I _growled. _

And to my utter surprise, she growled back, sinking her fingers into my hair, and swallowing my growls into her mouth, one hand working between our bodies creating a space between us I couldn't protest because her hands were popping buttons, and pulling zippers and oh my fucking God her hands were in my pants.

And this was the unfortunate position in which I met Jacob Black.

Even throughly distracted, mounted and disheveled, I was a fucking vampire, with senses more keen then most could claim. I heard him, even before he opened the door, but I couldn't stop, couldn't tear myself away, and I tried, fingers clenching Bella's hips in an attempt to detach her from my mouth but the girl was like a damned limpet sucking the life straight from my mouth, hell, I was suppling her with air.

"What the fuck?"

He had a deep voice, and a dark-skinned girl beside him, who was smirking, and rolling her eyes, one hand on her hips and one hand on her husband.

Bella pulled herself from my mouth with an audible, wet smacking noise, looking coyly over her shoulder at Jacob from my lap and I knew she was smiling, even through the mess of her hair. "Hey Jacob." She said gently, as if this wasn't entirely inappropriate, or even mildly unexpected, and I thought with a pang, that maybe it wasn't, and the thought kind of sucked something hard.

Jacob looked....well mostly he looked confused, and that I could understand. He could hear, no doubt, the lack of heart beat, and I knew that my contacts had long since dissolved, leaving me with eyes still more red then orange. But I had no scent, and nothing about me screamed at him to go wolf and eat me.

"Bella?" He said awkwardly, "Is he....are you....Your a vampire! A human drinker!"

"I was." I confirmed, "But Bella has explained to me that there is an alternative."

"He's trying, Jacob." Bella said with a long groan, "He didn't even hesitate when I told him there was an alternative."

"But...but....He's a human-drinker, and your....your kissing him! Your sitting on him! Don't you ever fucking learn! Why would you bring him here! Dammit Bella, don't do this again!" His voice was a healthy mix of irritation and disgust, and I kind of wanted to hit him. Suddenly he was trembling, and his wife looked concerned enough to have me shifting Bella off my lap and behind me as I pulled myself to a stand.

"Jacob!" Bella pleaded, peaking out from behind me, "Really, Peter's great. He isn't like the Cullens!"

"You need to calm down, you'll hurt your children." I rationalized, surprised when his trembling stopped and he turned his wide, dark eyes to me.

"My what?"

Bella turned her tilted head up at me, and I wasn't sure what to say, "Your children. Your wife...she's pregnant. Didn't you know?"

"Pregnant." He repeated with a slightly startled laugh, "Pregnant? Leah. Your pregnant."

She shrugged, but smiled a small smile, "Well, don't look at me that way, I didn't know."

"Children." Jacob said with new awe, stopping short, "Wait...children?"

I nodded hesitantly, as Bella's hands slipped into mine, "Yes. There are two heart beats beside your wives. Can you not hear them? They are still rather faint, perhaps you cannot?"

But Jacob was kneeling now, ear pressed against his wife's flat stomach with a grin that belonged to a child, so full of glee. Bella pressed her mouth against the cotton of my button-up her shirt, branding my skin with her own smile as she spoke against me.

"He'll love you now." She whispered, twisting around so that her back was pressed against my chest, "Congratulations you guys!" She chimes, her small hands pinning my fore arm to her clavicle so I was forced to rest my chin on her head, except really, I wasn't forced do anything.

Jacob stood slowly, head tilted to the side, his eyes still bright from the excitement of father hood, but his mouth was pulled in a firm straight line, as he spoke, so clearly ready to judge any response that I might make, "He isn't like Them."

I pressed my mouth against Bella's mouth, snuffing any sarcastic comment she had, and watched as Jacob bit back a smile, "It's hard to be anything like people you have never met. But I assure you, from what I have heard, I am _nothing_ like them." I pressed my mouth against Bella's hair, looking up at Jacob with a stone expression.

And when he smiled, it took me by surprise, for all that I expected, it hadn't been that, and Bella's fingernails pressed harder into my resistant flesh, belying the calm she was pouring out with inward excitement at my obvious acceptance.

"Your different," Jacob said slowly, with a shrewd eye, "The Other One wouldn't touch her....he wasn't very human.....but you....your more human."

It had to be the strangest fucking compliment I had ever been on the receiving end of. Any humanity that I ever had was borrowed and temporary. I was an Angel, and I was a vampire, and I had a Doctorates from the School of the Socially Inept, with a side note of Social Retardation.

"You touch her. The Other One didn't touch her. Couldn't trust himself to not kill her. But you....uh.....you obviously don't feel like you might...uh...kill her or anything." What had began as a stern observation ended in a stumble for words as he skirted around the fact that he walked in on his Honorary Little Sister with her hands shoved down a vampires trousers. "So...yeah. And you don't smell, so there's that."

"You still do." I said with a very human shrug, "If it's any consolation, Bella's whole damn house smells like dog."

Jacob smirked, but Leah spoke, "He makes the pack rub on everything when we visit! I know for a fact they all pee in the rose bushes. Bella threatened to taze them when she found Seth in her bed."

Bella snorted, "Thats because he was naked, and under-aged. And drunk, did I mention drunk, yeah, he had his big, naked, underage ass in my bed."She paused, and I could almost see her mind skitter off onto another path, still unable to focus, "Anyways....you guys are having babies!"

"Was that not your intention?" I asked, because hey, I don't know when to close my mouth. "This was unplanned?"

"We thought Leah was infertile." Jacob explained, his grin only growing larger, "Babies, Bella!"

Bella grinned, looking up at me, and then at Jacob, "So....this day is pretty memorable....right? And Peter told you....so.....you have to like him.....right?"

"I don't have to," Jacob argued, but Leah aimed a kick to the back of his knee and he quickly reiterated, "But I do. I do. Thank you, Peter! Gods! Babies! I have to tell the Pack!"

And that was how I found myself crushed in a smelly-Jacob-Black-werewolf hug.

* * *

***squiggly line SCENE jump***

**

* * *

  
**

I was in the shower scrubbing away the scent of overexcited werewolf off my flesh, when Bella let herself in. Through a door that I locked. She apparently did not bend to social protocol that says you generally leave people alone when they are in bathrooms. But Bella really didn't bend to any protocol, so really it was my surprise that surprised me most.

"Bella!" I bit out, peering through the fogged glass shower door. The only comfort I had was that Bella couldn't see through it as well as I could, and I had no idea where my fucking modesty was coming from, she had already taken all my clothes off. Hey, thats not the right thing to think about.

She was standing there smiling, grinning really, leaning against the door frame. "What are you doing?"

"I was bored." She said easily, seating herself on the toilet in the obscenely small bathroom,"continue with the cleansing, Peterpire."

I glared at her, but the effect was lost through the shower door, "Have you no understanding of privacy?" I asked, masking my alarm in irritation. I was hard as fucking hell and there was no way she wouldn't notice.

"Nope. And I'm downright disrespectful when it comes to personal space." She said, as the shower door was pulled to a grinding, screeching, slow open.

I could feel her eyes on me, and felt more like prey then a vampire ever should. It was a dorky teenage nerd moment where I realized that I was really, really naked, hard, and in very close vicinity to a real-live girl who looked like she wanted to sink her teeth into me. "Bella?" I croaked, unable to turn around, even if I was sure she was looking at my naked ass.

"Yes, Peter?" She asked lightly, over the rustle of clothes, and the sound of shoes hitting the bottom of the bathtub.

Suddenly her cotton covered body was pressed against mine, leaching away the warmth drawn from the water. She pressed her cheek between my shoulder blades and I realized that Bella was really fucking weird, fully dressed and in the shower. With me.

"What are you doing?"

"Dunno," her reply was accompanied with a shrug I could feel against my back as she pressed herself closer to me, hands resting on my hips and for some reason I felt like she was making me the girl in all this. When the hell had that happened, "Just go with it."

"Oh...okay," I managed to say, but it came out crossed between a rasp and a growl, as her hands burned a path across my stomach and downwards, "Bella I...I don't...I haven't...."

"Do you want to?" She asked, cutting off an admission I really didn't want to make. And she was asking me to make a decision, to choose what I wanted, and did I want to? Yes, yes I really, really did.

I breathed out slowly, letting myself relax against her. I trusted her. I trusted that she wouldn't mock me for my sheer and unabashed inexperience, because I was inexperienced with everything and she hadn't really made fun of me yet. "Yes."

She pressed a smile against my spine, and how had I never known I was so sensitive there? I could feel the heat of her mouth shutter against my skin, sinking deep enough through me to touch my _wings_, and the sensation rocked my body so hard, I gasped, ragged and wet.

Her touches were more hesitant now, and relief flooded me. She was just as unsure as I, and that made me feel real, and her feel real, it made this seem so much more real, and I wasn't alone when I was with her because really, neither of us knew what we were doing when it came to each other.

"Uh...do you..." She swallowed, nails biting into the bone of my hip, "Do you ....do this by yourself?" She asked, the heat of her blush burning my skin and it took me half a minute to figure out what the 'this' she was talking about.

"Oh! Um...No. I never have." I admitted, feeling stupid in my own perfect skin. "I never had the need before you, and I really don't know how."

"No one's ever got you hard before?" She asked, and there was no smugness in her voice, just a rough, raspy tone laced with shyness that wasn't often heard in Bella.

"No." I breathed, choking on myself when her hand wrapped around my naked, aching cock, and oh my fucking hell I really should have tried this out myself because I just wasn't ready for the feeling, for the onslaught of several feelings flooding me, assaulting me, and she squeezed and I was sure I had died all over again.

By the third even stroke of Bella's hand, I had shattered two of the white bathroom tiles of the shower wall, and with every twist of her hand I growled, and every slide of her thumb I shuttered, and she was holding me tightly, whispering me through it all, like she knew I was overwhelmed and I was, and _oh my fucking oh shit oh shit oh shit. _All the strings that bound me so tightly snapped in quick succession leaving me vulnerable as I fell into a thousand tiny pieces.

When I came, my body froze in her hands, head falling back as she bit into my shoulder. I felt the skin across my back tingle and for one terrifying moment I was sure I had lost control of my wings, because my body exploded, and the world spun, and for five whole seconds I was human again and in control of absolutely nothing. And even though logically I knew it could, I was certain that nothing could get better then this.

* * *

**A/N Yeah, it's sort of a frivolous chapter, but I felt that it was a needed transition. Going home is hard for Bella, so....and Leah! Leah is Jakes mate! Remember how I said that Jakes imprint pointed Bella to a good therapist? Yeah, well Leahs not exactly a stranger to abandonment, now is she?**


	9. Bitchpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 9/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating: Mature audiences only for Language. THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DRY HUMPING NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. SHIELD YOUR EYES AND BACK THE FUCK AWAY.**

Word Count: 5,500

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a strange imagination.

This Chapter was beta'd by the lustrous VampishVixen

_**~READ ME READ ME READ ME!~**_

**A/N So this chapter is about 500 words longer then normal, but that extra 500? Dry-humping, so yeah, lemons for you.**

**So, a lot of the things said and done in the chapter will probably leave you confused. But come Chapter 11, we are going to have a little Bella POV. It isn't going to stay in her POV. But some serious questions are going to be asked, and some serious answers are going to be given. The Cullens aren't going to be showing up for a bit.**

**I really only just decided how this story is ending but I'd say that it has another 10 or eleven chapters to it.**

**Please! Please! Please! If you have not read my story Hush Little Baby, do so. It's nothing like what I have written so far, but I wrote it for a contest and I want to get some feed back!**

**I am currently working on several other stories! I have a completed Jasper/Bella off being Beta'd. As well as a Jasper/Peter (gasp! Slash!) colab with ladym3. Annnnnd, once Once Bitten, Twice Shy is finished, I have another Angel!Peter story in the works. Totally different then this one. The prompt for it is up on my profile if you want to check it out.**

_**Previously on Once Bitten, Twice Shy**_

_When I came, my body froze in her hands, head falling back as she bit into my shoulder. I felt the skin across my back tingle and for one terrifying moment I was sure I had lost control of my wings, because my body exploded, and the world spun, and for five whole seconds I was human again and in control of absolutely nothing. And even though logically I knew it could, I was certain that nothing could get better then this._

**Peter POV**

"I thought I felt your heart beat," Bella said into the silence, her cheek pressed into my spine and her hand still on my softening cock. The fucker was still trying to put up a fight. "Like a flutter."

My wings, I thought, but I wouldn't tell her as much, wouldn't confess to _that,_ because wasn't I a big enough freak? I didn't want to present proof that God existed to someone so spurned, so lost and hurt in the world. And I couldn't tell her what He had in store, couldn't promise that everything would be okay. I knew enough about my Father; that He never intentionally sent her down _this_ path, that it was Vampires who had intervened in what was intended for her. And that was why she was so damn broken, and now I was doing it to her again.

She let her nails scrape across my thigh, earning a gruff little rumble from me as she slipped beneath my arm, still braced against the wall, to plaster her self against my front, resting her cheek against my collar bone. "So....orgasms. Pretty awesome, huh?"

I snorted, speechless and dizzy. My whole body felt like Hiroshima in the aftermath of an atom bomb, nothing but a wreck of broken pieces that I was sure would never fit together again and it took me half a second to realize that it felt _good._ Skin numbing, bone tingling, closest-to-sleep-I-will-ever-get_ good_.

"Awesome," I replied with a sudden rush of stage fright. Performing had never been my forte, and I really didn't know the steps to this little dance Bella had started. I wouldn't know what to do with a pussy if it sat on my face.

_Well_, I'd have a pretty good idea but....

Bella, being oh-so-Bella, seemed to notice my tension, pressing more firmly against me as if to absorb the awkwardness of the moment into her skin. "Don't worry about that right now, okay? This was for you."

"These things should be reciprocated," I argued diplomatically, not entirely welcoming the cop-out she was handing over to me on a silver platter. It was nothing short of emasculating and I did not care to be made the bitchpire. "Don't you..."

"It's the meds...." She mumbled into my chest, and I could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. She was embarrassed, and wasn't that a relief? "I know that I'm all kinds of turned on right now, because damn, Peter, you're _hot_. Like, manly, rugged, awkward hot. And you _grow_l. And I totally just jerked you off in the shower. So I know that I am turned on, I'm just not feeling it. It's a side effect. A proverbial wooden stake through my libido's heart."

If my shoulders fell a little, well I couldn't be held responsible. Logically, I knew that this had nothing to do with me, and she was telling the truth about the medications. But damn, ego was a relatively new concept to me, and she had just shot it all to hell with her perfect fucking aim.

"Not doing it for you, eh?" I asked, in what I was attempting to be some sort of teasing manner. It came out flat and if I had to admit, a little embarrassing. Apparently she didn't need to emasculate me for me to sound like was sporting ovaries beneath my 'rugged, manly, awkward' exterior.

"Oh, no. You do it for me. You do all kinds of things for me. Believe me, a good part of my mind right now wants to rip my clothes off and fuck myself on your cock. My body however, isn't as agreeable. So, yeah, don't take it personally because I want nothing more then to fuck you silly, but maybe not in a shower. Shower sex would suck for a first-time and that sort of thing should be special. Already ruined your first kiss. You know, the stealing of virtue should not be undertaken ligh--_mmph._"

To be honest, I had probably stopped listening right after she announced she wanted to fuck herself on my cock. After that, it was all stunned silence and a head full of white noise before I realized she was still talking and if she asked me a question, I wouldn't know what the fuck to say. So I improvised the best I could, and shut her up with a kiss.

I pushed her gently, pressing her back against the shower wall. The water, surprisingly, was still hot, with spindly puffs of steam rising up around my cool body to swallow Bella whole, like those cheesy depictions of angels in the clouds. Or vampires in the mist. I plastered myself against her, suddenly eager to see how well our bodies fit together.

She swallowed every groan that built up inside me, brushing a careful tongue across my own, but never moving past my teeth. Kissing, I realized, would always need to be led by me, and I was suddenly filled with the urge to excel in the role of Kiss Giver. I pressed my mouth more firmly against hers, mimicking her every movement with more force, fucking her mouth with my tongue till little whimpers and moans spilled from her. I pulled back, letting her breath, happy to see her pupils were blow wide, black melting into brown, cheeks flushed, and mouth wet. It was a good look for her, and I had done that.

And that was how my ego firmly reestablished.

"You didn't cum," she said at random, throwing me a little off kilter. Because yes, yes I did cum, about five minutes ago. I was pretty sure I wasn't expected to cum again for at least another fifteen minutes. Maybe ten if we tried hard enough.

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't. You totally shot dry. I was expecting...I don't know. I never really thought about the bodily fluids of vampires."

"All we have is venom. And whatever blood we drank last. Be happy it was neither. " I replied, not really bothering to give it much thought because somehow, I had buried my face in the apex of her shoulder and neck, and here in the steam, with a little less meds in her blood-system, Bella smelled really, really good.

_Really good. _

"Pe..Peter....what are you doing?" Bella breathed, fingers clenched in my hair. I hear her question,and when I asked it myself, _Peter what are you doing_? I discovered, lo and behold, that I was licking her neck.

I was _licking her neck._

And she_ liked_ it.

Oh, I could smell it. Clear as day, just barely, beneath the steam and the smell of sweat and Jacob on Bella. The underlying scent that was thicker then her blood, but so very faint it could have been missed had I not realized what it was. The scent of sex and woman, and _oh my God._

"_Oh."_

She nudged my face from her neck gently, tucking her head up beneath my chin, "This probably isn't a good idea..."

"No." I replied, "But I want to...." Bite you? Fuck you? Lick you some more?

"I know you do. And one day, you may even get to. But not now. Not like this." Her answer was easy, smooth, as if she was answering all three options at once, and that thought only seemed to scare me further.

* * *

**((Squiggly Line Fast Forward!))**

* * *

The rest of the trip was uneventful, but I could sense the downward shift even if I couldn't put my finger on the exact cause. Bella had returned to La Push after a few hours, smelling of dog and tears. She stepped into the house, arms wrapped around her chest and a forced smile on her face.

"What happened?" I asked at once, setting aside my laptop where I had been attempting to get some work done. It was a good thing I was rich, or I'd be broke hanging out with Bella.

"S'nothing," she muttered, walking into my open arms anyway. She pressed her snotty face to my chest, and I just didn't have it in me to be grossed out. "Jacob and I had a fight. He's not happy with my life choices."

I rested my chin atop her head, smoothing my hand down the length of her hair. "Is it because of me? I can understand his displeasure."

She snorted, a hot puff of breath scalding my center. "It didn't start about you, I didn't make it about you, but he did his damned finest to drag you into it."

"Do you want to tell me?" I asked gently, cupping her face and turning her eyes upward. Her lashes were wet and shiny with tears, "Or is Jacob going to tell me; he's coming up the walk now."

She growled, spinning in my arms to stalk towards the door. Jacob stood behind it all guilty and shuffling, hand raised to knock when Bella yanked it open.

Her anger melted like ice cream on the side walk and I was forced to the sidelines to watch a game I didn't understand. She was crying again, and he was crushing her into a hug, whispering apologizes over and over again.

"I'm so sorry Bella, so sorry. I didn't mean it. I love you, you know I love you. I've loved you since I was fourteen years old. We are family, and I would never, ever stop loving you, but please, please just listen to me, it doesn't have to be this way, he doesn't have to---"

"Please," she rasped, turning her face away from him. "Please, I don't want to talk about it. Not here, please Jacob, not now, if you love me at all...."

_Oh_, I thought, feeling the familiar tickle of understanding itch at my skull. Even if I couldn't pick up the details, I knew what this was about. The Secret. The thing that Bella always carefully omitted, skirted around, avoided at all cost. This was the thing that made me itch because I knew it was something, I just didn't know what. Apparently, it could very well have something to do with me, but I felt myself being pushed further into the shadows, as if I didn't exist in the room, and wasn't witnessing a train-crash.

Jacob shoulders slumped. "But....you don't have to."

"No." She shook her head.

"You can come back." Jacob said firmly, as if it had been up for debate, "You can always come back to La Push and live with us. The Pack _loves_ you Bella. You have options. We'll take care of you. I will always love you. Please, please, please don't leave me like this."

"What options, Jacob? What are my damn options!?" she laughed, cold and bitter." No! Don't you say it! You mother fucker! If you tell him, Jacob Black, I will never speak to you again. Don't do that to him, just don't! I won't let you hurt him." She slammed her hands feebly against his chiseled chest, and I extricated myself from the silent exile, prying her from his arms.

"No. You're going to hurt him yourself." Jacob rasped, "Just keep on lying to him Bella, and one morning, he can find your house empty, just like I did. Great idea."

And what was this about? Was she protecting me? From what? Was it even me who Jacob and Bella were taking about? I hated the veil Bella forced over my mind, hiding all the secrets and details from life. Never, never had I felt so...uninformed. And Jacob, he seemed to take her threat seriously as he tucked her away into the curve of my arms, running broad, tanned fingers through her hair and looking at me imploringly.

"She's going to leave us both." He rasped, tears marring his deep voice, and he shook his head, as if to dispel a thought, bolting out the door without another word.

The house seemed darker now, as I carried Bella's sniffling, quietly crying form, upstairs and into the master bedroom. I laid her out on the bed, tossing her shoes into the corner, and stripping her of her jeans. She pulled me into the bed, curling up into my body, the warm expanse of her back flush against my chest.

"I won't ask." I promised her, and it seemed like the right thing to say, because her body eased, melting into mine as she laced our fingers together, holding our hands against her heart. "You'll tell me one day, won't you?"

The silence could have lasted a year or a second, and I am pretty sure it still would have hurt. I didn't understand the pain; it wasn't physical, just something inside me that felt hollow and filled with fire all at the same time.

"Yes," she whispered, and the pain seemed to ease, but my chest still ached with a hurt I couldn't describe.

"I don't want you to leave me." We were whispering now, and my words seemed like a death-bed confession pressed against her hair. I could almost see my guts strewn across the table as I spilled my own secrets. "I'll never leave you."

How could I? Something had shifted inside me, permanently altering me from a state which I would never return. I was no longer a solitary creature; no longer could I be alone. My entire person had been newly molded around Bella in the last month; it was like breathing clean air for the first time. I was someone now. I was _Peter_ to Bella. It wasn't a name, a title given to an angel, or soldier. I was Peter,_ the person_. I was someone to Bella and I would never, could never, give that up.

New tears spilled across my inner elbow, where she pressed her face to quiet her sobs, and the ache in my chest grew, and I just didn't understand. But it wasn't as if knowing everything made things better. Sometimes ignorance was the only bliss afforded.

"Peter..."

I hushed her, turning her in my arms so she was forced to face me, all teary eyed and splotchy, looking just as shitty as any human did when they cried. "Shh. I said I wouldn't ask, and I won't. I just want you to know that...I just wanted you to know that." I finished, something unspoken still hanging in the air.

"Shut up, Peter." She grumbled, speaking into my chest, and I snorted, laughing into her hair. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not asking."

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The Forks trip was cut short when Bella's manager called and informed her of the flood warning in Bella's neighborhood. She already had men coming over to move all of Bella' furniture upstairs; Bella spent a good fifteen minutes demanding that they wear the fucking booties and if they track mud in her house she'd kill them all.

"So," Bella said at length, "I figured I'd just grab myself a room at the nearest Hilton, maybe something with a jacuzzi. Maybe do a little Movie-Monsterthon"

"Don't you mean Monster-Movieathon?" I asked, feeling the awkward ache return in my chest and Jacob Blacks words echoed inside it, _Just keep on lying to him Bella, and one morning, he can find your house empty, just like I did. _I was hit with the weird urge to never let her out of my sight.

"Well, not if you're there," she grinned. "My own personal sparklepire."

"Stay with me." I blurted out, realizing that though my mouth meant this on a more imminent level, as in stay-with-me-tonight, my brain was probably just making a general demand. "At my house, I mean. Tonight. Stay at my house. With ."

She gave me her most amused look, lip curling up into a half-cocked smile that said awe-aren't-you-adorable-when-you-look-stupid. "Peter, is your house even user-friendly?"

"I use my house?" I answered, my words lilting up like a question and her you're-being-cute-smile seemed to deepen with my misunderstanding.

"Yeah, but do you have like...a bed, and I don't know...toilet paper. Things that humans need."

An involuntary grimace assaulted my features because, fuck, I didn't want to think about her shitting. Really, I didn't. I mean, I knew it was a human thing, but even when I was near-human, I had never really bothered with bodily functions.

She laughed, slapping her leg as I turned off on our exit, "See, you can't even handle the idea that I might shit in your virgin toilets."

"Shut up." I grumbled, "And anyways, my downstairs toilet has been broken in by the people who installed my kitchen. So there is _toilet paper. _And you can use the toilet in the basement for any human-needs because seriously, I do not want to know."

"What about a bed?" she asked innocently, but it hardly rang like an innocent question, especially when she was making it a point to look anywhere but at me.

"I have a bed." I replied, "A big ass bed. And a jacuzzi, if you're still inclined. Plus I have every single monster movie made in the last twenty years on blue-ray."

"Okay," she said with a smile, "I'll stay with you tonight."

_ Forever, if you could, please._

_

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"Sweet digs," she said, dumping her purse onto my living room floor. "So this is Casa De Legion, then."

"This is it." I waved my hand errantly. "Are you hungry? I thought I could order-in from that Thai place you like, over there on the west side. The one where all the waitresses wear leather?"

"Thai Me Up?" she asked with a smirk. Tie me up, I mean really? It's a damned eating establishment. Although, it did sound more appetizing than The Wak Shack Chinese Bar and Grill. Or The Phat Fuk Noodle Bar. Humans. Heathens, all of them. And currently, really, I was no better.

"I want the Happy Chicken Fun Times Moo Shoo Family Platter with extra soy sauce and a fuck ton of Cherry coke. And egg roles. And those cream cheese crab meat things with the sticky red sauce," Bella said in earnest, searching through her phone, and handing it to me. "It's ringing. I'm going to go take a shower. Where's the bathroom?"

"Upstairs, third door on the right." I said awkwardly, watching Bella take over my house with ease.

I set the takeout on the table just as Bella screamed bloody fucking murder. I could hear the water slosh over the side of the tub as I ghosted upstairs, bursting through the bathroom door to find Bella standing on the toilet clutching a fluffy white bath towel to her body. "Bella? What the hell is going on?"

"That _thing_ fell into the tub!" Bella shrieked, pointing to the wet, wrinkly thing peeking up from beneath her goddamn underwear. "What the fuck is that?"

I reached down, flicking the soaking-wet pair of tiny panties off Cat's head, picking up the little fucker by the skin of his neck. He curled into himself, purring contently as I held him up for inspection. "It's my cat."

I snorted as Bella's face twisted up in disgust, "That's not a cat! That's a wrinkly little peen! And the fucker stole my underwear."

"Peen?" I blinked, looking at Cat, "Did you just call Cat a penis?"

"Did you just call the cat 'Cat'?" Bella asked in response, "And you said I'm not creative. My panties are soaked and not even in a good let's-get-busy way. Give me something to wear."

"Do you want me to grab your duffle?" I asked, watching little droplets of water fall from her hair, down her body, absorbing into the towel she was still clutching.

"I left it in the car. I didn't want everything in your house to smell like dog. They're all dirty anyways, and I'd wipe my ass with poision ivy before I wore my panties twice. I'm just weird like that. Can I just borrow a t-shirt and some boxers or something."

"I don't wear boxers." I replied quietly, hedging towards the door before she made me say it.

"Boxer briefs? Dude, I'll wear your tighty-whiteys if that's all you have. Just bring me something."

"Uh..."

She righted and rolled her eyes at me, which, admittedly was an acceptable response to my current level of ass-hattery. "Peter, just chuck me some of your under things."

"I don't wear them." I all but blurted out, fighting the urge to bash my head against the door frame.

She blinked once, then twice, slowly, dramatically, her mouth pulling up into the half-smile I normally found endearing. Now...not so much. Some unnamed emotion that I was pretty sure was a healthy combination of shame and embarrassment lit inside me.

"You don't wear underwear." She asked, or rather stated boldly into the silence. "You....don't....you're just rocking your cock out in those nice little slacks of yours? You've been hanging out with me all Sergeant Commando? Really? _Really?"_

"Yes!" I growled, "I don't like them...rubbing on my junk and shit. My pants are loose enough that it's not really a problem. Can we not talk about it?"

Her half-smirk turned into a full out grin, "Oh no. No, we have to talk about it. I am intrigued. I must know. I must ask. How...when did this begin? Why? How am I just learning about your inhibitions?"

Well, in all honesty, it's probably because back in the day, I never even wore pants, let alone fucking boxers or whatever. Angels walk around in the nude. We have no junk. Clothes were not necessary. There was nothing sexual about it, no need to cover it up. We just rocked out in vessel, so to speak, that wasn't really made of skin, blood and bones as it was made up of light and faith. Yeah, clothes, there was really no point.

And in the beginning, well dudes didn't wear pants. Every one wore robe things. Pants just weren't logical a millenia ago. So maybe, if I were forced to admit it, I really didn't like to wear clothes in general. But would I tell her that? Yeah, probably not.

"I just don't like them. I told you, they...uh...chafe. Dammit, didn't you notice when you shoved your hands down my pants in Forks? You know what, don't answer that. We're not discussing this." I said flatly, turning out of the bathroom. "I'll leave a shirt by the door. One of my button ups should be long enough."

"So we're both gonna go coma---"

"I said we're not talking about it!" I barked, shoving Cat in the pocket of my jacket and heading for my room.

"I think it's hot!" She called, giggling madly as I glowered down the hallway.

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"Please. Please explain to me how you forget you don't own a television?" Bella asked, leaning back on the couch, ankles crossed on the coffee table. My pale-blue button up had ridden up her thigh, slowly distracting me to the point of insanity, and I forced my eyes away to focus on her mouth.

"I...I uh....I normally just watch movies on my lap top." I replied after what I was sure was an awkward pause. Somehow, another button had come undone on the shirt, and I was beginning to wonder if she was doing it on purpose. It was certainly something she would do.

Apparently, in revelation of my Commando status, Bella had decided to abandon her bra. She had to know. I mean, she just had to. She wasn't stupid by any means, and seemed to understand the nature of vampires. Like their increased senses: scent, touch, and most importantly in this moment, sight. I could see through the shirt. I could see _through_ the shirt. And yeah, so maybe I had considered this when choosing it for her, but I really had thought she'd wear a bra.

I could see everything. Every freckle, every scar. Her nipples. An errant thought ran through my head that they were _pinker_ than I expected them to be, and wasn't that weird? I was corrupt, and I couldn't find it in myself to care.

She picked at her chicken, expertly utilizing her chopsticks, a skill learned from many dinners spent eating take out. "Peter?"

"What?" I asked, my head snapping up sharply. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, with a confused little smile. She set some chicken on a napkin, scooting it across the coffee table towards me. Cat perked up, sneaking out from my pocket to pad across the glass-top, devouring Bella's offering quickly. "You really need to name that thing."

"It's a cat. I call it Cat. That works for me." I said with a shrug, forcing my eyes upward again. Cat had hopped up onto Bella's lap, rubbing against her stomach as if to mock me.

She set down her moo shoo, rubbing her hands along Cat's wrinkly skin. It licked her fingertips with a sleepy expression. "Aw, you purr just like your daddy. Yes you do! Yes you do!" she cooed, scratching beneath Cat's neck.

I frowned, clearly not amused. "I do not sound like that."

"Yes you do. You purr when I rub you too," she said, so matter-of-fact that I couldn't find it in myself to argue. So yeah, maybe I did purr, who fucking cared? "I'm gonna call you Peen. Yes, I am! You look just like a wrinkly little Peen, you do, you do!" She continued, making squished up baby-faces at my retarded little house-pet.

"You can't name him after genitalia!" I grumbled, "Seriously Bella, don't call him that. It might stick."

"Peen! Peen! Peen!" she chimed, stroking him in rythym to her words. Cat let out a happy grumble, pushing into her hand, as if he'd happily accept her new title. "Does your dick sparkle in the sunlight?" she asked abruptly, her hand stilling on Cat's back.

"What?" I paused, "Yeah, probably. I mean, why wouldn't it?"

Bella snorted, "I think that Lady Gaga is a vampire or something. I mean what else could she mean when she says Disco Stick? Vampire sparkle peen. It has to be."

Rolling my eyes, I stood up, pulling her up off the couch, "You're so fucking weird." I said, heading for the stairs, Cat following faithfully behind up.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"'Rosemary's Baby' has a good creep-factor, but I feel it's lacking in gore." Bella argued diplomatically, roaming over the shelves of movies lining my bedroom wall. She smelled like cinnamon toothpaste and take-out. And the standard lilac floor-cleaner smell of her blood, but that scent had somehow become a comfort to me.

She was in my bedroom. And yeah, I had figured she would be in my bedroom eventually, and fuck, I had already slept beside her. But this...seemed different. She was in my bedroom in a see-through shirt with no panties. I was almost sure that I would have been sweating my balls off if it were possible.

"'Amittyville Horror' isn't shy on the blood." I replied, "Plus it has that human quality to it. You know? Human shooting up his family. I think it brings something that vampire and monster movies can't accomplish."

She snorted, "You're telling me you prefer movies where it's just a human killing off everyone over monsters?" I nodded. "That just seems....more funny...coming from a vampire."

Eventually, we settled into 'The Exorcist' for its combination of human and gross factors, easily appeasing both our horror-movie appetites. Bella curled into my side, her head tucked beneath my chin. The domesticity of it freaked me out, after having spent so much time alone.

But when Bella hummed in contentment, nuzzling me just as the mother discovered the oujia board in the closet while her kid makes fucking finger puppets, I couldn't help but smile.

She curled my fingers with her own, pressing them to her stomach in an encouraged-kind-of-hug. I could see her brown eyes reflected in the screen, staring up at me with a smile.

She winked, the minx, and turned back to the movie, ignoring Cat, who had curled up on the keyboard, his naked, wrinkly body desperate for the warmth, and I smiled again, against the skin of her shoulder.

She giggled, "You're breathing on me, creeper. It tickles."

"Weak. " I growled, snapping my teeth playfully, and licked the back of her neck, "Weak, weak, weak."

She rolled over, dislodging Cat from his keyboard. He growled, hissing and spitting his way off the bed and out of the room, grumbling along the way.

I dug my fingers gently into her side and she squealed, wriggling against me with an interesting if not unexpected result. One that I was sure she would notice. There is nothing, and will never be anything innocent about grown-ass adults tickling. "Peter! Peter! No! Noooo. Fuck! I'll pee on your bed. I swear if you don't stop I'll pee-ah!"

I stilled my hand, letting it rest on her leg, nearly-but-not-quite hooking the back of her knee. My leg was tucked between her calves, shirt riding up just above the curve where ass meets thigh. She looked up at me, slowly raising one eyebrow in silent challenge and I felt my mouth go dry as I considered my options. Oh I hated options.

"Kiss me." She demanded, settling the debate for me, and I leaned down meeting her in the middle. She opened her mouth expectantly, and I obeyed the silent order like the good little soldier I was.

Bella's mouth was hot, but nowhere near as hot as her body, pressing insistently against me, till I was flat on my back. I was being manhandled by a ninety-eight pound human girl and fuck all if I could do anything about it. Or if I even wanted to. Which I didn't. Bella knew what she was doing, where to press and grind. I was just along for the ride.

And if that sounds like I am insinuating that Bella was riding me, well that wasn't really that far off the mark.

She fisted her hot palms in the front of my shirt, locking her legs around my waist as she kissed me harder. As if they suddenly grew brains of their own, my hands slipped up from her leg to cup her ass, pulling her hard against me earning a groan out of both of us.

The...friction...the grinding pushing feel of her hips against my own made me dizzy, and I found that I was having trouble remembering to even kiss. "Bella! I...I..." I had no idea what I was trying to say, but it seemed important. Bella nodded against my neck, as if she heard something that I didn't.

"S'okay," she breathed, twisting her hips with a roll and _oh my God. _She was hot and wet, even through my cotton-sleep pants, I could feel her_ against_ me. Suddenly it was too much, but I needed more, and I ripped down the front of her shirt, showering my chest in little blue buttons. She was beautiful, and red faced, sweat shining on her skin as she gasped just from _grinding_.

She tore her mouth from mine, sitting up abruptly, her eyes shut tightly closed, curtained in a mess of hair. She was pushed against me, lost in her own feeling, naked, flushed chest bounding with every grind. I could feel myself unraveling, falling apart beneath her, even as I clung tight to her hips, urging her to push harder, faster, _more, more, more. _

"Bella, I can't....you have to....I have to...." but the words were lost in my mouth, shattered by the growl tearing through my body, and she shuddered against me as I came, as she came on me, hotter and wetter and _oh my God._

She laid down on me, heaving chest pressed against my stone-still one, a sleepy smirk on her face. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but she silenced me, pressing her warm, sweaty hand over my lips.

"First rule of sex. No post-orgasm talking. After-glow inhibitions cannot be trusted. Nothing you say can be held as truth. So. No talking." She muttered, rolling off me to lean over the edge of the bed, riffling through the purse she dropped there. She emerged with a pack of smokes, lighting one between her lips, and handing me the other "At least until the first post-orgasm cigarette is smoked."

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**A/N So, yeah. I don't know what it is, but grown ups dry humping has always made me laugh. I didn't want to dump the awkward virgin straight into sex, so a lot of lemons are going to be on the milder side. For a while anyways. Who knows? The quieter ones always end up the freaks in bed.**


	10. Angelpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 10/?**

**Author:** Lifelesslyndsey

**Category:** Twilight

**Pairing: **Bella x Peter

**Summary: **Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating: **Mature. Language and eventual lemons.

**Word Count: **5,044

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Beta'd : **By the fast and furious ExhilaratingExistance

**A/N Hey you, yeah, you. How's it going? Good? Yeah? You know what would make it better? If you went and read Hush Little Baby. Review it too. Feed me, for I am hungry. And reviews are cookies. You like cookies? I like cookies too. So do that. Do it. Do it because I have been really good about updating this story weekly, and you love me for it. You do love me, don't you? Because I love you. But I love reviews more. Reviews are love, people. Reviews are love. **

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_**Previously on Once Bitten, Twice Shy**_

_She laid down on me, heaving chest pressed against my stone-still one, a sleepy smirk on her face. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but she silenced me, pressing her warm, sweaty hand over my lips._

_"First rule of sex. No post-orgasm talking. After-glow inhibitions cannot be trusted. Nothing you say can be held as truth. So. No talking." She muttered, rolling off me to lean over the edge of the bed, riffling through the purse she dropped there. She emerged with a pack of smokes, lighting one between her lips, and handing me the other "At least until the first post-orgasm cigarette is smoked."_

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**Currently On OB,TS.......**

Bella slept beside me, our bodies melding together beneath the sheet. She was a restless sleeper, tossing and turning and pressing against me, mumbling incoherent little nonsense into my skin. Bella smiled sometimes, laughter escaping her sleepy mouth, reassuring me that she only dreamed good dreams. Her beating heart and steady breath was hypnotizing, lulling me into a state of near-unconsciousness. I let myself be carried away in a wave of thought, creating a state of hypnotic tranquility that wasn't sleep, but still seemed _meditative._

It was the smell of lavender floor cleaner that pulled me from my meditation. Or rather, the smell of Bella's blood, heavy and fresh in the air. I held my breath at once, feeling the old flair of fire burn in my throat. Bella didn't exactly smell delicious, but in comparison to what I had been eating lately, she was mouth-watering.

And why the hell was she bleeding in my bed? I considered briefly that this might be lady-time blood, and wondered if that would gross a human-guy out, because it really wasn't doing much for me. A more perverted-vampire then myself might even find it hot. I was really just concerned about her bleeding all over my damned sheets. They were six-hundred thread-count Egyptian cotton Léron sheets. The fuckers had been listed in Forbes magazine. Yeah, I liked Bella, but I didn't want her bleeding all over my $4,000 bed sheets. Do you know how weird it is to get your linens dry cleaned? I do. Let's not add blood to the equation.

"Bella?" I poked her gently, fingers pressing into her soft side, as I shook her awake. She was facing away, head buried in the pillow. "Bella, babe, wake up. I uh...I think you might have, you know, uh. I think you're _bleeding_, on my bed."_ On my sheets!_

Bella grumbled a sleepy, "S'not my period," into the pillow, and that was all good and well, then what the fuck was it?

"Yeah, that's great. But you're still bleeding." I said a little more urgently. I could hear her heart beat, feel it thump against the bed, my other senses winding up to compensate for my lack of breathing or smelling. "Bella?"

Leaning over gingerly, I pulled her onto her back by her hip, a growl slipping my lips when I _saw_ it. She had gotten another nose bleed, this time in her sleep, and it flowed fresh even as I watched.

"Oh fuck! Peter, ouch! Release the human! Release the human!" Bella grimaced, easing out of the death grip I had on her hip. Her hand lifted to her mouth immediately, "Oh fuck! Fuck! Shit. Uh...if it's bugging you, go. I'll clean this up."

"I'm not breathing," I said stiffly, "But my other senses are compensating. I can_ hear_ you bleeding. But...I'm fine. Are you okay? It's not dry in my house or anything...."

"What does that mean?" She asked angrily, pulling herself out of bed and padding towards the bathroom. I followed slowly behind her, feeling the build up for our very first fight. She flicked the faucet on angrily, splashing cool water against her bloody face, staring into the sink as the pink-tinged water drained.

"Nothing....I just meant that last time you got a nose bleed, you said it was because the house was dry. My house really isn't,...so I wondered if maybe I should be worried about this one." I replied quietly. My chest was still as I reminded myself not to breath, panic tickling my natural urge to breath and smell. I felt vulnerable, even here, alone with Bella.

She softened her tensely drawn shoulders, turning to me with a little half smile, my button-less bloody shirt hanging open on her body, giving me a good view of her scarred and beautiful form. "I'm sorry. I just don't like people worrying about me. I don't like to be coddled. I have some....clotting issues with my blood. So I get nose bleeds for no good reason on occasion, and if I cut myself, it takes me a bit longer to stop, and I usually have to take a pill. I take a few different coagulants, and a hemoglobin inhibitor, plus some iron supliments, so I'm not in danger of bleeding to death, or anything. I don't want you to make a big deal about it or anything, okay?"

I nodded minutely, as more blood trickled from her nose, "Sort of ironic though," I said after a fashion, "you have a blood problem and a vampire as your...." Oh. Well lets not make it fucking awkward or anything.

She seemed to be torn by the same unnamed definition as I was, looking at me with sleepy brown eyes, a wad of red-stained toilet paper pressed to her nose, "Should I call you my boyfriend? It just sounds weird. Can't call you a lover yet, but you are....you're very important to me, Peter. It's pretty corny, but since I met you....I sort of feel like I'm living again. I don't know what I'd do without you"

I could feel myself beaming, even as I stepped forward, pulling her bloody little body towards me, close enough that I could feel the heat of her without even touching, without the press of her naked skin against me. Because really, I didn't need to get hard with her standing there bleeding all over the place.

"I've never met any one like you, Bella. I like who I am when I'm with you," I murmured, leaning to press a kiss against her messy, morning hair. She chuckled, hand caught between our bodies, holding her nose.

"We are so lame." She murmured, leaning forward to press her forehead against my chest. "Losers, the both of us."

She didn't speak after that, and we stood in the silence. But what was often our usual compatible stretch of quiet, quickly shifted into something menacing and stifling, and I knew something was wrong, even before Bella's knees went out, causing me to catch her deftly beneath the arms, hauling her upward, till her toes barely touched the white, ceramic floor tiles.

Her head lolled, chin dropping limply against her chest, and my own chest seized with panic, "Bella? Bella? Come on, wake up! You said it was fine!" I nearly shouted, shaking her roughly, head bobbing on her shoulders. It fell back, revealing her blood soaked face, the hand still loosely clutching bloody tissue falling to her side. Her mouth was sticky with wet red. New blood still trickled slowly down her chin and neck, still pouring, soaking into the open cotton button up and smearing down her naked chest, into her belly button and below, like a vampires wet dream.

Part of me liked it, wanted it, wanted to lick the blood that pooled in her navel, straight up from the valley of her breast, before sinking my teeth into that full round chest. I could hear it, her blood, pounding, wet and heavy in her veins as she laid limp in my arms. I didn't breath, wouldn't fucking breath, because God, she was beautiful, and I was such a bastard for it, but I wanted her like this....so badly.

But another part of me was screaming, begging for her to wake up, even as the blood stained my hands and clothes, as I clutched her to me.

Bella had said she was okay, but she couldn't have known, couldn't have seen this coming, and still been able to look me in the eye and lie. I blamed myself, I hadn't noticed the bleeding was so bad, because I hadn't been _breathing_. Because I couldn't, and that seemed pathetic, even for me. What the fucking hell was I doing? I was strong...or I had been. But the change in diet had taken it's toll on me, and I found myself fighting the burn, if only a little bit, every day. But I wouldn't risk it, not with her.

Throwing in my contacts at vampire speed, I got to business in a blur. I dressed her in a flash, discarding the bloody button up for a new, neatly starched black satin blend dress shirt as well as a pair of my own sleep pants. It was longer, handing loose around her knees, as I loaded her into my truck, racing towards the nearest hospital, which incidentally happened to be Virginia Mason Hospital, one of my old feeding grounds.

The hospital Emergency Room was packed with the less-than-dying people, wearing Saturday night injuries on a Sunday morning, groaning in what could have been pain, but was probably just a hang over. The looked all different levels of irritated and impatient, waiting to be seen, with their heads hanging in their hands. But bust in there holding a half-dressed, passed-out, bleeding girl with an expression of panic on your face? It's like an express lane to service.

The nurse, the infuriating fucking whelp of a goddamn nurse, was just one popped gum bubble away from being drained fucking dry. He stood lethargically beside the reception area, leaning heavily on the counter, clip board clutched loosely in his sweaty, filthy hands. I could feel my left eye twitch while he asked me questions in his high-pitched monotone voice. I answered to the best of my ability, watching as they loaded my unconscious Bella onto one of the stretchers, whisking her away behind the swinging, double doors.

"Patients name and birth date please." He whined, pressing his pen against the paper on the clip board.

"Isabella Maria Swan," I replied, "I don't know her birthday, but she's twenty-four." I had never thought to ask, honestly. I wasn't entirely schooled on relationship etiquette. Our relationship was fairly fledgling. We hadn't bothered to make the time to hash out those details yet.

"Hmmm. And what is the nature of the problem, sir?" He asked, not looking up from the clip board. I could see lingering smudges of kohl colored eye liner shadowing his lower lashes, and glitter stuck to the exposed bit of clavicle peeking from his scrub-top. He smelled like sweat, jagger, and jizz from several sources. Not that I was judging how he spent his Saturday nights, that wasn't my job, never had been. But really, he shouldn't show up to work looking like he was still all sorts of fucked up, and expect me to not want to punch him in his pug face.

"She has a clotting problem. She said she's on medication for it, I don't know what she's on. She's also on some anti-depressants. She woke up with a nose bleed, and she seemed okay, but she passed out, and I couldn't wake her. And she kept bleeding." I explained in a rush, "Can I go see her now?"

"And what is your relationship to the patient?" He asked in the same monotone drone, still writing, eyes trained to the paper, his sticky, sweaty hand flashing untidy scrawl across the thick, black designated lines.

"I'm her....boyfriend." I said awkwardly, and yeah, Bella was right, that did sound weird. But fuck if I was going to say_ 'I'm her pet vampire, she's trained me well. Want to see how high I jump?' _"Can I see her now, please?"

The nurse looked up from the clip board finally, his face blank and dispassionate, blinking his blood-shot blue eyes, "I'm sorry sir, only direct relations can see the patient, such as family and spouses. Do you have her families contact information?"

Direct relations? Fuck, I knew nothing about her family. I knew her dad was dead, and I knew her mother wasn't, and really that was about it. And Jacob Black would just get the same brush off as I was, so that didn't help much. Though, I could currently see the pro's to having an aggressive punch-happy shape-shifter for a friend, because really, I wanted to deck the little fucker so fucking bad. Angel of the fucking Lord, and this pathetic excuse of a human sack of shit had me desperately wanting to resort to primitive violence.

"She doesn't have any," I stated dully, "Just me."

The nurse nodded shortly, "Then please take a seat in the designated waiting area, a nurse will be with you upon the patients request. Thank you for choosing Virginia Mason Emergency Care."

With that brittle brush off, I walked, non-breathing, back to the waiting room to sit among the masses. This was just the way things worked. There were probably other boyfriends sitting here, waiting, totally miserable and anxious just like me. Thats just what humans did. I wanted this, wanted this human-type life. I wanted to be social, or at least integrate with society better.

So I sat there, in the midst of grunting, heavy breathing, chattering people. It was vile, people in general were vile, and I lasted five minutes before bolting back out of my chair in search for the twit of a nurse, who I found tucked behind the high counters, slurping a bladder-busting, neon green slushie, and popping his goddamn gum loudly, and I was gonna hurt the little glitter fairy fucker if he didn't get off his damned ass and answer my questions. Goddamn it, I was going to see Bella, if I had to strangle some one to do it. Not that it would be necessary. I was better then that. Or I certainly hoped I was better then that.

"Excuse me, Miss...ter," I glanced at his name tag and nearly snorted as I read the word 'Eric'. Yeah, that made sense. Just like Erica, that blonde bimbo from the Pharmacy. They both deserved to be smacked in the fucking face for existing.

"Eric," I drawled, pulling out that sweet ass Texas accent I had long since put away, and flashing my pearly whites while leaning over the counter, closer to the little bitch in question."The way that I see it, Eric, is that you have two options. A, you can let me in to see my girlfriend, or B, you can go get me your supervisor. I don't care what one you chose, but chose quickly, or we are going to have some serious problems."

His hand slipped on his slushy, causing the cup to hit the counter with a dull _thud_ , splattering his greasy face with droplets of green, "Did I do something wrong? Do you have to talk to my supervisor? I can't get written up again! I'll get fired."

Yeah, I could see that. Resisting the urge to reach over and smash his stupid face into the counter, I smiled wider, laughing darkly, "Your job security is currently the very least of my worries, Eric, you sparkily little cum-dumpster. I want to see my girlfriend, and I want to see her now. She has no one else but me, so get off your jizz bank of an ass hole, and let me through, or so help me God, Eric, I will hand cuff you to a urinal in the Drug Rehab wing faster then you can say _'glitter'_."

"Oh! Um...I...can call my supervisor. I will. One moment...." He sputtered out, hand scrabbling towards the phone, "I...I didn't get your name."

Thats because you didn't ask, you disgusting little abberation on society.

"Mr. Legion. Peter Legion."

One check later, a twenty-five-thousand dollar donation to the Thomas Bentley Ward for Incurable Children, and I was seated comfortably by Bella's bed. She was sleeping now, pale and peaceful, her arm sucking blood from a bag suspended above her head. She was O-neg, my personal favorite, and I had to laugh at the irony in that while not breathing one single fucking breath.

I sat in silence, listening to nothing but her breath, and the beeping of unknown machines. I gave up asking questions. The nurses wouldn't tell me anything, not that I cared really, I was just happy to be beside Bella, to hear her breath, and her beating heart, and know that she was okay.

"Peter?" She murmured, opening her eyes slowly against the harsh yellow florescent lighting. "What...what are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to wake up." I replied simply, cupping her hand between both of mine, "You scared the shit out of me, you know? I thought you said you weren't in danger of bleeding to death."

She snorted, smiling weakly, "They said I'm starting to build immunities to the drugs I'm on. I just need a higher dose. It was pretty much expected, I've actually done pretty well so far. I'm surprised they haven't had to up me sooner. I didn't mean to bleed all over your fuckawesome sheets though. Seriously, those sheets are like....sex fabric. They molest you in all the right ways."

I snorted, "They better. They cost like four-thousand dollars."

Her eyes widened and she gave me a disgusted look, "You paid four-thousand dollars for sheets? That's....that's ridiculous."

"And you bled on them." I reminded her, "Seriously though, you're alright, right?"

She nodded, letting her head fall back against the pillow, "Yeah, they said I'll be out by tonight, just need some blood in me. You doing okay, with the blood? Still not breathing?"

"Not a breath. The only time I stopped to breath was around the asinine little whelp of a nurse out front." I grumbled, leaning back against the wall, "But I'm fine. I'm just glad you're okay. They wouldn't tell me anything."

"Yeah, they're really picky about that, hey wait? How did you get past the doors? They only let life family and stuff in with the patients?" Bella asked, turning a narrow eye on me.

I ducked my head in shame, okay, maybe not shame, but rather to hide a smile. "I threatened the receptionist that if he didn't let me though I'd hand cuff him to a urinal, and then I wrote a check so they wouldn't kick me out all together."

She smirked, leaning over, and grabbing me abruptly by the testicles, causing me to jump where I sat, "Good job, Peter. You finally grew a pair."

I felt myself grow hard at an alarming rate, against her warm palm, and hissed, glaring at her, "Isabella!"

She released my boys with a long, drawn out grope, slinking back against the bed, "Sorry, about all this." She waved her hand errantly, "I'm such a pain in the ass."

I sighed, pulling my chair closer to the head of her bed, grabbing her hand back into mine, and holding against my cheek, "Well, then it looks like you've made a masochist out of me, because I don't care how big a pain you are, I like having you around."

She snorted, reaching her other hand up to ruffle my hair before letting it drop down onto the bed, "You're so good." She said in a breath, "Good to me. You're just so good, Peter. You're open and honest, and...good."

I looked up at the bag of blood, noticing that beside it hung what suspiciously looked like a morphine drip. Why they would give her a morphine drip for a nose bleed was any ones guess, but it certainly explained her slurry declaration of my goodness, and her sleepy, hooded eyes.

Which, made me feel like a piece of fucking shit because I was a liar, liar, _liar._

"I'm not," I said, my voice muffled against her hand, "I'm really not Bella."

But she was asleep again already, a soft smile on her face. I kissed it, I kissed that smile, wishing it wasn't the bastard byproduct of my lie. I wasn't good, no matter how hard I tried to be, because I was a goddamn lying, violent little shit of an Angel. I needed to get out, if only for a minute, because suddenly I felt all together very, very trapped. And it wasn't the room.

I scribbled a note on a napkin, setting it in plain sight on the little bed side table. Bella would understand if I stepped out for a moment, I knew that much, and I'd be sure to be back when they discharged her.

I found a nurse, not the glitter-fuck of a nurse I had spoken to first, but a perky little red headed girl with pale green eyes, who smiled some what hesitantly at me when I approached her. She was easy to read, like an open book, written in eighteen point bold face font that came with a free fucking audio tape. I tensed, anticipating the general wrath I had incurred from most of the nurse staff so far. Not that I thought it was all unjustified, but it was still tiring.

"Hello Mr. Legion, is there anything I can do for you?" She chirped, making careful eye contact. Her name was Candace, she was an intern, she lived with her sick mother in Parksdale and was paying her own way through college by interning during the day and bussing tables at night. She prayed daily, even though she alway had to work on Sundays. None of her prayers had ever been answered, but that never mattered to her. She was a good person. I felt like shit.

"Um, I was just wondering if you could tell me when Isabella Swan was going to be discharged. I need to head out for a moment, but I'm her ride home, and I'd hate to keep her waiting." I said earnestly, trying not to look like a vampire standing in a hospital where he used to feed. I could feel my contacts thinning even as I spoke, and knew I needed to get the fuck out of here and just _breath_.

She fished a pink, plastic rhinestone, watch from the pocket of her soft, yellow intern scrubs, wrinkling her nose up at it, "Well, it's about noon now, but I'd say probably a few more hours. Her charts look good, but she still needs some test, and she needs the rest of the blood infusion. She'll be right as rain, Mr. Legion. We're also waiting for her Doctor to consult on further procedures, but everything looks okay, and you will be able to take her home around four."

"Thank you, Candace," I said softly now, staring at the little angel pinned to shirt. It was silver and pearl, a little ring of gold for a halo and no bigger then my thumb nail, holding in it's hands a tiny little cross. I stared at it, feeling strangely warm. She had been nice to me, where others hadn't and I was filled with the urge to reciprocate, to give back. I laid my hand upon her shoulder, shocked to feel that old frism of Faith pass between us. Her eyes widened, for she felt it to, the Grace of God, the faith that was hers, amplified by me, "Fear not, for your mother will not die from this, it is not her time. Have faith, and the Lord will guide you."

Her lightly gloss lips fell open, a little 'oh' rushing like the wind from her mouth. I turned, leaving her in my wake, happy to have given her that hope. It was rare to find people of such faith these days, and I felt a little lighter knowing that there were still believers.

Candace believed in Angels.

Some days, I couldn't even say as much.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I hopped back into my truck, the Grace which I had shared with Candace, the sweet-faced intern, still tingling on my skin. I felt the contacts give beneath the venom, my vision sharpening instantly, as I turned my truck towards Snake Lake.

The Tacoma Nature Center was a good forty-five minutes away from the Hospital, and yeah, I felt kind of shitty for hunting on a reserve,but it really didn't seem any worse then hunting at a hospital.

I breathed, taking in the heady scent of Bella's blood, still smeared across the passenger seat of my truck. I wasn't starving, having only fed a few days ago, but Bella's blood, and the general stress, had my throat burning. It didn't help that I could feel Him on me, my Father in Heaven, where Candance's faith had touched me. I felt shameful, and unworthy, my skin buzzing with a grace I had long since lost.

The Tacoma Nature Center was basically forty acres of marshlands, evergreen forest, and shallow lakes shoved in the middle of suburbia. Parking my car outside the Center, I dipped into the forest quietly, racing through the trees till I found myself a clearing, skin exploding into a burst of diamond light, from the thin shaft of sunlight filtering through the gaps in the cloudy sky.

My wings escaped, shaking with the lingering grace, and I found myself shrouded in twisted black feathers, tearing through the soft cotton of my shirt. I tore away the shredded remnants of the fabric, stretching my anxious wings outward, lifting them towards the brilliant blue sky. The weight of them tugged familiarly at my skin, heavy and_ right_. They felt miles long, even if they weren't. I let myself fall back against the tall, soft grass, wings stretching across the ground, the warm breeze pulling at the glossy black feathers.

It felt good to _feel _them, to let them be free, an indulgence I did not often allow myself, perhaps as some sort of punishment. They were no longer the wings of an Angel, but they were _mine_, a gift from my father which I had always, and would always cherish.

Rain was sprinkling down when at last I rose, shaking off the tiny droplets of water from my feathers and my hair. I sighed, stretching them out once more, before pulling them back, inside me, defying physics as I pulled them neat and tight against my ribs. I could feel my skin knit back-together, re-scarring the two, long jagged lines that marred my back.

Afterwards, I hunted quickly, anxious to get back to Bella. I pounced on the first large mammal I crossed, a vicious looking male black bear with a bum front leg. I left his body where it lay, as an offering to the scavengers of the woods, before taking my leave, slipping back through the trees in a blur, and to my truck. I found a neatly pressed and folded spare shirt in the cab where I had left it in case of messier hunting trips, pulling it on over my damp skin. Freeing the last pair of contacts from the glove compartments, I made my way back to the hospital, and back to Bella, still heavy-hearted with my lie.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx **

"Peter." She groaned, tugging on my hair, grumbling nothings under her breath as I carried her back into the house. "Seriously, Peter. I can walk."

I just smiled down at her, pulling her warm body closer to me, "But you don't have to, how wonderful is that? Humans are generally pretty lazy, so just go with it. Lets get you out of those scrubs and into some pajamas, and then I shall cater to your every whim. I'll do what ever you want me too."

"Stop babying me," She muttered, but then she bit back a sly, perhaps even border-line evil grin, "whatever I want, you say?"

I nodded slowly, wondering exactly what I had just openly walked into. As if I would tell her no to anything, though. It wasn't even the guilt of lying. I just liked making her happy. "Anything, you name it, and I'll do it."

"Run away with me." She said with a big smile, her hands wrapped around my neck as I carried her down the hall, "Lets run away together. Just...go somewhere. Anywhere. Nebraska. Canada. Rhode Island."

"Run away?" I asked, some what amused.

"Run away everywhere," She said wistfully, "Lets go cross-country, see the sites. I just turned in my finished manuscript for Blood Moon, and I don't have any new novels planned. Lets..._just go_. We could go to Mexico. Tiuana? Watch a donkey show."

"I will be watching no donkeys in Mexico, thank you very much," I set her lightly on the couch, where Cat promptly curled up in her lap, "You're serious?"

"Like a heart attack," She replied, scratching between Cat's ears, "Peen can come too. We can pack tonight, and leave in the morning. We won't even make plans. Lets just goes where the wind takes us."

"You just want to pack up and leave? On a whim?" I asked again, because surely I was hearing things wrong. "Just...leave?"

"I like whims. Whims are good." She nodded in earnest, "Let's go Peter! Just you and me."

It was the _you and me_ part that broke me. I couldn't help but wonder if this was Jacob Blacks words personified, that Bella was running away again. But I couldn't give a flying fuck if it was, because she was taking me with her. She could leave if she wanted to, just as long as she didn't leave me.

** xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

She wasn't kidding. When she suggested we pack that night, she had meant it. She was currently standing in front of her closet, throwing things at me half-hazardly. I folded them neatly, tucking them away in her purple suit case, watching as the pile seemed to grow, and grow, and grow till I finally asked.

"How long were you planning we be away?"

She shrugged, throwing off the pale-blue scrub top she was wearing, and rummaging through her drawers topless. "I don't know, lets not put a time on it. We don't have any place to be." She raised her arms up, stretching to pull on the new shirt and simultaneously distracting me from any possible argument.

She played a dirty game, that Bella Swan.

**A/N So. Yep. Have I answered any questions? Have I created more? Are you speculating? If you are, please, no guessing on Reviews. Just let yourself stew. Oh, and yeah, I know I said Bella's middle name was Maria, and I meant to. So, wow. Peter totally grew a pair. And he had a religious-moment. I don't think the next chapter is going to be in Bella's POV. I was gonna do that, but then I changed my mind. So anyways, until next week. Leave me pretty things. And read/review Hush Little Baby. Because you love me. **


	11. Tacopire

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 11/?

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 4,637

Disclaimer: I own nothing

HOT FOR BETA! : This Beta'd chapter was brought to you by MadamAkyria!

**A/N So. Yeah. I've been gone a while. This chapter just wasn't coming to me. Now, **_**next **_**chapter, I have plans. So, sorry for making you wait four billion years for this. It's here now. Oh, and I totally used the word 'ministrations'. Yeah, I went there.**

_**Previously On Once Bitten, Twice Shy**_

_She wasn't kidding. When she suggested we pack that night, she had meant it. She was currently standing in front of her closet, throwing things at me half-hazardly. I folded them neatly, tucking them away in her purple suit case, watching as the pile seemed to grow, and grow, and grow till I finally asked._

_"How long were you planning we be away?"_

_She shrugged, throwing off the pale-blue scrub top she was wearing, and rummaging through her drawers topless. "I don't know, lets not put a time on it. We don't have any place to be." She raised her arms up, stretching to pull on the new shirt and simultaneously distracting me from any possible argument._

_She played a dirty game, that Bella Swan._

_**Now on OBTS**_

Bella was vibrating with excitement by the time we pulled out of the driveway early Monday morning, pink and yellow rays of sunlight pushing feebly through the cloud-fogged sky, only to be slapped down brutally by the ridiculously expensive triple-tint window detail on my truck. She had a grin on her face so wide it should have hurt, even as she tapped away on her keyboard, issuing the most clinical e-mail of her departure she could manage. Upon my insistent request, she had agreed to inform anyone that mattered, or rather Jacob, Leah, and Kelly, the publicist, that she was taking an extended vacation, but would keep in touch. Via e-mail and nothing else.

It was a compromise I could live with.

The interstate was empty in the early hours of the morning, save for the fast and few cars zipping past on their way to boring suit-and-tie jobs, briefcases nestled in their passenger seats as they sipped luke-warm star-bucks and talked on their cell phones, steering sporty little Volvo's with nothing but their polyester, cheap-suited elbows. Humans, they never ceased to amaze me in their insanity.

"Pick a number one through three, please." She said out of the blue, unfolding the map she had found in my glove compartment. There wasn't anywhere I hadn't been, and I knew my way around the world, but they were always building new fucking roads, so I bought the map the night before, while she slept. Her finger traced the red and blue lines across the United States, lingering over nothing, just following paths that lead to nowhere. She was grinning ear to ear, and her happiness was contagious. I found myself smiling even as Seattle grew smaller and smaller behind us.

"Uh, two, I guess" I said almost instantly, because one and three were odd numbers, and I really didn't like odd numbers. I didn't care for prime numbers either, but as far as prime numbers go, two was okay. And if this was obsessive compulsive behavior, well there was really very little that could be done for it at this point in my life. "Why do you ask?"

She grinned, "East we drive, then. There has to be something worth seeing in the East. Largest rubber-band ball. That giant statue of Jesus. Mudders Museum of Medical Oddities, I hear it has the worlds largest colon on display."

**xXxXxXxXx**

We didn't stop the first day, other then to let the human pee, as well as Cat. Cat, who looked even weirder on the makeshift leash Bella had fashioned out of a shoe lace. Her left ratty, purple converse flopped on her foot as she urged him to do his business.

"Come on Peen! Shit already." She grumbled, ignoring the blatantly disdainful look Cat gave her, before crawling under a bush and doing as he was told.

Though my general experience with human interaction was limited, I had spent enough time with Bella to understand human needs. Sleeping. Breathing. Relieving one's self. I was even beginning to understand, somewhat abruptly, sexual fucking desire. However I could not even begin to understand the eating habits of humans. They were far too close to the driving habits of humans, reckless and risky. However, her love for Thai food notwithstanding, Bella had always been a fairly healthy eater and was, if nothing else, extremely clean. So when Bella shouted _'Tacos!' _loudly out of the blue as we slipped through some podunk down in Idaho, yeah, I was a little surprised.

"Tacos!" She cried out again, with far more glee then soft-or-hard shell's should ever invoke, "Pull over, Peter. It's tacos. I need tacos."

I pulled my truck up behind the roach restaurant-on-wheels contraption considered an eating establishment that was parked on the side of the road. Well, perhaps less then parked, as it had a flat tired hanging loosely of a rusted rim, and was being leveled by a pair of chipped and stacked cinder blocks and was being slowly assaulted by creeping green vines, sneaking up the rusted grill.

"I don't think this is a good idea," I said quietly, slipping in a pair of fresh contacts, "This looks...unsanitary."

"It's a taco truck, Peter," She said, as if this explained everything, life and the universe. "It's not unsanitary, it's Mexican food and I love it."

"It's a taco truck in the middle of Idaho, there is nothing Mexican in it's nature" I pointed out, following her up to the order-window. "You want Mexican food, we'll go to Mexico."

Bella sighed, rolling her pretty brown eyes at me, "You wouldn't understand."

She made her order, reading gleefully off the paint-shipped menu bolted to the side of the truck, and grabbing a copious quantity of napkins from the smudgy dispenser sitting just inside order-window. The man, who was in no way shape or form of any Hispanic descent turned his gaze on me with a toothy, gingivitis smile.

"And what can I get you, buddy?" He asked, peering out the window to eye my out-of-place attire of slacks, clean pressed button-up and trench coat.

I grimaced, categorizing the different colors of dirt that dwelled beneath his nails with disgust, "Nothing for me, thank you."

The man blinked, giving me a wary eye, before Bella spoke up, face split with a smile, "You'll have to excuse my friend here, sir, he thinks he's too good to eat from a truck."

**xXxXxXxXx**

She ate in the passenger seat, rolling down the windows as to not suffocate me with the stench of too-old fry oil and questionable meat. Cat curled up into her, licking orange grease stains from her fingers as she chewed her way through a baby-sized burrito.

"That could be human-meat. You could be eating human right now," I said grimly, watching melted strings of cheese hang of her mouth, still connected to the _food._

"Tasty, tasty human," she murmured, around a mouthful of salmonella-in-hiding. "It's delicious. You can't ruin it for me. I could find a finger in here, and I'd still think it was delicious."

"You are a total germ freak. You make me wear booties in your house," I pointed out. "How can you go from that to this? This is...this is sort of gross."

"Compared to Walter Freedmont this is cake." She shrugged, "Sometimes you gotta get a little dirty, Petey."

"And subjecting yourself to surefire E-Coli is what you consider getting dirty, Bella?" I asked, plucking out my contacts and flicking them out the window. My generally rose-red eyes had faded to a dull, burnt orange, and I was happy in my progress. "I'm not holding your hair if you puke."

"You so totally fucking would, and we both know it," She said with a snort, before setting down the half finished burrito, on the center console, far too close to me for my liking. Cat pounced on the beast, biting into it with beastly-vigor, orange grease splattering his hairless face.

"Look. I just...I want to live a little. I've spent so much of my life not living, and I just want to let my hair down, so to speak. I got shit I want to do, and I want to do it with you by my side. I've done a whole lot of nothing my whole life, and now is the time to get out there."

I sighed, because yeah, there was very little I wouldn't do for the girl, and she seemed more aware of that then I. "Is there anything else you want to do while we're...getting dirty?"

She smirked, salacious and well...dirty, throwing me a theatrical little wink while blowing me a kiss. "Yeah, there's lots of things. I want to get a tattoo. On my ass. I want to do shrooms, and I want to blow a bunch of money on something stupid and frivolous. I want to touch something magical. I want to scare the shit out of myself. I want to meet someone famous. I want to...I don't know, I want to see a miracle happen. And...and...I want to see a donkey show." She said with the kind of finality a donkey show really didn't merit.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

Bella, as I quickly learned, enjoyed my endless torment. When I asked if she wanted to stop and rest, she shook her head 'no' and told me that when it was time to stop, I'd know. She liked to pass the time with creative car games. And by creative, of course, I mean sexual.

"Cunt." I said, rather bluntly. Three letters into this game and I already wanted to be done. I wanted to be done when I said _anal_, and she said autoerotic_ asphyxiation_. The letter 'B' was no better. Unable to defeat my general morbid curiosity, I had to ask what bukkake meant. Really, I should have known better. And might I add, uh, _gross_? All I could come up with was blood play, which had earned me the wry-look-and-half-smirk combo.

"C...cock, of course." She said, leaning back against the window and grinning at me, "Come on, your letter is D."

"I know the alphabet, thank you very much." I grumbled. And I did. I was old when the alphabet was wrote. "Dick."

"Doggy-style." She replied in kind. "Deep throat, dildo, d-"

"One Bella, just pick one." I said with exasperation, and she just smiled, "That first one was two words. And E for erotic."

"Fuck-off is also two words, so fuck off." She replied, easily, throwing her shoeless feet up on the dashboard, revealing sparkily banana yellow toe-socks. "Erection. F for Fingerbang."

"Fellatio," I said with a smirk.

"I would have said 'fuck', but whatever floats your boat," She replied, shrugging, "G...Grope."

"Grind?"

"G sucks, so that works for me. Um...H for hard-ons."

"H...Hump?" I snorted, and she just laughed, scratching Cat's wrinkly skin. Humping was a little to close in our current history for that to not be funny. "Your turn."

"I...hmmm. Infection?" She queried, tilting her head to the side, covering Cat in a fall of un-brushed, curls.

"How is that a sexual word?" I asked, giving her a skeptical look. I wasn't going to let her cheat at this stupid fucking game that I was being coerced to play.

She shrugged, "That's what the kids are calling them these days, Sexually Transmitted Infections. Use to be good old fashion STD in my day. Venereal disease in yours, I think. "

Oh. Well then. "Well, alright then. Humans are gross, but anyways...Uh...insert. Yeah, I'm going with that. And J for jack-off?"

"That's two words," She mocked me, before throwing out her own version " J for...jizz." She said, before squealing somewhat fiercely, "K for kinky!"

"Yeah, that would excite you. K for kamasutra." I said with a lecherous little wiggle of my eyebrows that made Bella laugh, and me smile. "L for...lick?"

"And I'm the kinky one? L for long, " She asked, giving me an obscenely dirty look and flicking her tongue, "M...mouth."

"M for masturbate. And how is a mouth sexual? It's a mouth." I replied without thinking, because honestly, I was ignorant, but even I knew better then that.

She giggled, licking her lips in a lewd gesture, "If you have to ask, Peter...I'm not sure you're ready to know. Any ways...N for nipples."

"N for nut sacks. And O for orgasm." I replied in kind, trying not to twitch in my seat because a big part of me wanted to pull over, and explore how mouths were sexual. Which I was sure was Bella's intent in this whole damned game. Torture the Peterpire.

" O for Oral, of course. And P for Peen." Bella shot, patting Cat on the head. He purred, pressing into her hand with a drawn out meow. "Or Penis, for you Prudepires."

"I am not a prude, P for pussy, you little dip shit." I grumbled stiffly, "Q? Ah, shit. How did I get stuck with Q?"

She looked delighted, "Do you want to pass? Forfeit? Come on, Peter...say you lose!"

"No. Q for quiver."

She scoffed, "Quiver isn't sexual, you cheating."

"Are you sure, Bella?" I rolled my eyes, grinning, "It's certainly sexual in all those smutty harlequin romance novels you keep hidden under your bed. Didn't pack any bodice rippers for the trip, then?"

"Touché, you bastard." She muttered, blushing fiercely, "Q for...quarter. Like a really cheap hooker. And R for...uh...rough. "

"Rough?" I asked, turning to look at her, but she was looking anywhere but me. I smirked, "Do you like it rough, Bella?" I asked in a gruff low voice, before laughing at myself.

"Shut up, it's your turn. And you can't say Sex for S because that's lame and I'll make fun of you forever." She replied, tapping her fingers against her knees, "Well?"

"R for ride, and S for...suck."

Her smile turned lecherous, as she leaned over the console, "So you do know how mouths can be sexual?"

I swallowed at her sudden proximity, "S...Bella."

"Swallow." She said, looking me straight in the eye, as she leaned over the center console of the truck to squeeze my thigh, "And T for Tongue."

"T for tight and...U for Undress..." I mumbled awkwardly , gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"Underwear and Vehicle," She said with a new grin.

"Vehicles are not sexual."

"This one's pretty sexual at the moment, Peter, it's your letter."

"Vagina. Wet." Yeah that didn't sound weird, but holy fucking hell, she was _wet._ I could smell it, invading the interior of the truck, smelling so much like her blood, but significantly untainted.

"Examine." She said after a fashion.

"Now you're just digging . Examine starts with an 'e'."

"Yeah, well, lets not examine it to closely then, it's your letter Peter, come on, pay attention." She ordered, squeezing my thigh, inching herself dangerously close to my glaringly obvious stiffy.

"X for x-rated. And...Y for... You?"

"Y for yum. And Z for Zipper," and with that, she un-zipped my fucking pants, her stealthy little hand diving into my trousers and wrapping around my cock.

"Bella!" I all but shouted, gripping the steering wheel in a death lock and focusing on the road. "What are you doing!"

She shoved the center console up, crawling across the short stretch of seat on all fours, "I'm showing you how mouths are sexual."

And if it were possible, I grew harder, in her hand, "In...in the _truck? _But I'm driving!"

She squeezed, rolling her palm against the underside of my cock, and fucking hell, that was good. Why did she know what was good, when I didn't? I realized somewhat belatedly that perhaps after the first encounter with Bella's hot little hand, I should have done some exploratory research, as to not leave myself so unprepared for all the feelings she seemed to be able to so easily pull from me.

"I'm showing you how vehicles are sexual too," She purred, licking her lips as her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks, her eyes dropping from mine, onto my cock, and I could see the dimples of her smile, if I couldn't see her mouth, because she was looking down, and then she was going down. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh _fuck._

And with that, she descending upon me like a goddamn bird of prey, swallowing me down as far as she could, and holy fucking Christ, Thank you God, for blow jobs. Blow jobs were _awesome_. And if that's blasphemy, well _fuck_. Blow jobs were awesome. And I had my own fucking free will to think so.

And apparently I was thanking God, because the only thing my mouth could seem to form as I drove down the fucking express way with a mouth latched firmly around my cock was _"Oh God, oh God, oh God."_

Briefly, very briefly, because my brain really refused to cling to anything that wasn't _holy shit suck me harder_, I wondered about the weirdness of calling out your own fathers name while getting head. But that was before Bella did some sort of sucking thing in the back of her throat and flicked her tongue and I was coming embarrassingly fast, and dry, and she didn't stop until I did, pulling herself of my damned cock with an obscene, wet, little _pop,_ a string of saliva still connecting her bright, red bottom lip to my dick as she looked up at me with a grin...

And oh God, Father in fucking heaven, I wanted to fuck her _raw._

And wasn't that a bit of a revelation? Because, before that moment, I wasn't really sure what I wanted, but yeah, now? I wanted to fuck her silly, fuck her stupid, fuck her whatever the kids were calling it these days. Or something. I just wanted to make her come. Corrupt. I was wholly, and utterly corrupt, and I didn't give a flying fuck. Because I wanted to know how warm she felt from the inside.

Which was probably why I was pulling into a motel parking lot. Hey, it was dark, and she needed to sleep, and she had said that I would know when we should stop, and fuck, I thought we needed to stop right the fuck now.

I got the room key, all but carrying Bella to our room, and slamming her on the bed with a less-then quiet growl. If they thought I was harboring wild tigers in the room then whatever, I paid the extra pet deposit for Cat. A cat is a cat, right? Tiger, hairless weird thing, it was all the same to me. She moaned against my mouth, eliciting a less-then-manly-purr, because yeah, maybe she did like it rough, and well, that was sort of hot, wasn't it?

Then again, I was hardly a dominant person by any ones standards. And yet I found myself wanting to pin her down and shut her up because sometimes she just talked too fucking much. Well, maybe not shut her up _now, because_ she was making some fuck-hot delicious noises and grinding on me, and yeah, that was wonderful, I knew I liked that, but I wanted _more_.

I _wanted._

I stilled her hips beneath my hand, not wanting to come again so soon. And I probably would because, _fuck,_ Bella knew what she was doing, and that was kind of intimidating. I really had nothing going for me except for a vague knowledge and general eagerness. I kissed her mouth, and her jaw, and her neck, pushing her silly _Rising Sun _shirt up her stomach, and over her bare, bra-less chest.

"Peter...Peter!" She gasped against my mouth, her sweaty hands clutching me by the scruff of my hair, pulling hard, "You...uh...You don't have to do this...I mean. I don't want to rush you or anything...but don't feel like you have to reciprocate just cause..."

This was one of those times I just kind a wished she'd just shut up, so I kissed her, sliding my cool tongue between her lips, the way she had taught me. But she pulled away with a little whimper, "What I'm trying to say is I _like _getting you off. It isn't about me."

I smirked down at her, no doubt looking a hell of a lot more confident then I actually felt. "Well," I said, pausing to spread her legs with my knees, "I'd like to see if I enjoy it as much as you do."

As if I fucking wouldn't.

Now, I was well versed in anatomy. I knew my physiology. I knew the body inside and out, every name, every nerve, every little function. No matter what it was, I knew what it was for, and what it did. I knew where to touch, and how to touch and when to touch, and that was all good and great. But I still had no fucking clue what to do. Where to begin. So much for dominance. And really, I knew better. But, fuck, I still _wanted._

Bella could sense my sudden hesitance, smiling up at me warmly before taking my hand and smoothing it down her soft, flat stomach, the tip of my middle finger resting in her navel as she released my wrist, to undo her pants. I took her lead, hooking my fingers on her belt loops and pulling as she lifted her hips, a rather fumbling and awkward maneuver with me still kneeling between her legs, which we both managed to laugh at. Her pants were dropped to the floor, leaving her half naked and fully exposed for my viewing pleasure. It would seem that she had ditched panties all together, and I wondered if that was for my benefit.

I really hoped so.

She was neatly trimmed, something that I already knew from our previous nights together, but hadn't really had the chance to appreciate. Hesitantly, I breathed, shuddering at the scent because she was _wet._

Really wet.

Maybe she really did like sucking cock. Maybe she thought my ignorance was attractive. Either way, she was wet, and red faced, her eyes closed tightly, fingers fisted into the pale blue comforter beneath her in a way that was so humanly unattractive, and yet just ...just so fucking _hot_. She was waiting. She didn't care that I had no clue what I was doing, she still wanted it.

Whatever it was.

With that knowledge in mind, I leaned up, pressing a kiss against her jaw. Her breath hitched as my thumbs clumsily brushed across her hip bone, and then her thigh, before finally my balls dropped, I acted like a goddamn man and _I touched her._

Anatomically, it was exactly as I expected... But fuck, thats where it ended. She was like nothing I could imagine, not that I had really given pussy a lot of thought. Hot, not warm, but hot, and wet, and tighter then her sexual history had led me to expect. I let my middle finger brush down her neatly trimmed strip, before pressing against her, sliding in slow enough that I thought I would die, a little whimper escaping her lips. Her face was flushed, and breathing shallow, and I really, really fucking liked that. I brushed my mouth across her jaw, pressing kisses down her throat, slipping another finger inside her, with no more confidence then the first.

This scent, the scent of _her_, it wasn't tainted like her blood. It was heavy, and still oddly floral, but pure and clean. I twisted my fingers inside her, pulling a full-blown moan from her lungs, before brushing my thumb across her clit. She twitched beneath me, gasping, her fingers clutching the bed-spread so hard her knuckles were white.

"You gotta...move." She managed to say in a raspy whisper, and I obeyed instantly, thrusting my fingers further inside her, thumb pressing insistently against her, and she squirmed, letting out a hot breath across my face. I repeated the motion, and she whimpered against my mouth, spreading her legs wider.

So far so good, right?

She captured my mouth, coaxing deeper kisses and I moved my hands against her, steadily gaining some sort of rhythm, pushing against her every grind. Fuck, she was practically fucking herself on my hand as it was, and I was trying really hard not to grind myself against her thigh because I was already hard again, painfully constricted in my slacks.

As if she could read my mind, something I often wondered about, Bella's hell-hot hand slipped down my stomach, palming me through the fabric of my pants. I heard the hiss of my zipped before I realized what it was she was doing, and once again, I found myself wrapped up in the heat of her palm.

"Work with me," She whispered into my mouth, "match my pace."

So I did, sliding into her constricting heat every time her hand slid up my cock. The combination of sensations was alarmingly disconcerting, as was the fact that though while I was doing much of the work, Bella was more or less fucking herself on my hand.

She twisted her palm, thumb swiping over the head of my cock and I retaliated with a flick against her clit, drawing ragged-breath moans from her mouth, hot breath pressed against my shoulder as she blasphemed my Father and his One Son, while I fingered her.

"Oh fuck, oh Jesus fucking Christ in heaven. God, don't stop Peter!" She all but growled, spreading her legs father, knees bent, feet planted firmly against the comforter. I looked down, unable to see anything other then her expert hand around me, and my own hand, fingers disappearing inside her, wet and hot as she pressed down harder on me.

"Please, please please!" She began to murmur, head shaking back and forth, brown curls cast across her face, clinging to her lips where I had licked them.

"Please what?" It came out as a growl, as a demand, the general honesty in the question lost in the gruffness in my voice because I didn't really know what she was asking.

"More, harder, faster, something. Goddamn it, Peter, I need to come! Like right now! Like yesterday" She babbled almost incoherently, the hand working me growing steadily more clumsy, but I found that I liked the shaky ministrations, hand loose then tight around my dick, still damp and sticky from her blow job that seemed hours past but it couldn't have been more then twenty minutes.

I obeyed, slamming my fingers inside her deep inside her, finger still pressed against her clit. She hissed grabbing my cock hard causing me to curl my long fingers, startled by her jerky movement.

"Holy fuck!" She gasped, shuddering around my fingers. The effect was instantaneous, she moaned, body arching into my hand, fingers tightening around my dick, forcing my orgasm to chase her own, as she soaked my hand, and then some. Even without fully understanding, I realized that I had discovered...something important. I filed the information away for a later date.

My face was pressed against her shoulder, the steady thrum of her pulse lulling me into a state of bliss, fingers still wet inside her. She flopped bonelessly beneath me, my cock sticking to the pale flesh of her stomach, wet with the sweat of her palms.

I rolled over beside her, laying limply, the both of us too fucked-out to even move. I stayed silent, as I was previously informed to do, too afraid to talk and ruin it with any of the incoherent rambling that seemed to fill my head post-coital.

She chuckled beside me, rolling over to pull me closer, her long, pale arm wrapped around my waist as she tucked her head on my shoulder, fast-panting breath still warm against my skin. "Fuck, Peter, you're like the heavy-weight champion of finger-fucking. I think that I have to make a list or something. Oh fuck..we could...you could...Fuck, you'd love _that._" She rambled, making a mischevious face, brushing the hair from her face, "There's just so much to teach you."

**A/N In this Chapter, Peter discovered the art of g-spot stimulation and doesn't even know it.**


	12. Broodpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 12/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 2,096

Disclaimer: I own nothing

S'not beta'd. Want to beta it? Let me know.

**A/N ** I know, right? I'm updating already, when I updated only just yesterday! What can I say, I was hit with inspiration, and needed to get it busted out. I think I will be posting 2 or 3 2k chapters a week instead of one 5k chapter from now on.

Anyways, I wanted to let you know that I am dropping some serious fucking bombs in this chapter. Things you did not see coming. I have lead you astray, had you paying attention to the left when I was running right. Now your all sorts of fucked up. Or at least, you might be after you read this. I hope.

_**Previously on Once Bitten, Twice Shy**_

_She chuckled beside me, rolling over to pull me closer, her long, pale arm wrapped around my waste as she tucked her head on my shoulder, fast-panting breath still warm against my skin. "Fuck, Peter, your like the heavy-weight champion of finger-fucking. I think I have to make a list or something. Oh fuck..we could...you could...Fuck, you'd love that." She rambled, making a mischevious face, brushing the hair from her face, "There's just so much to teach you."_

_**And now...**_

It was a while before either of us spoke again, dismissing words in way of kissing. Fuck, I could kiss her forever, and often came close, leaving her breathless and gasping as I remembered she needed to breath.

"I have to hunt," I reminded her, as she pulled the ivy-patterned covers over both our heads, washing us in green-tinged darkness.

"Later," she mumbled, burrowing her face into my shoulder. "Cuddle now. Hunt later."

I left Bella asleep in the motel that night, tucking Cat safely into her side on the bed beneath the covers. The sun had long since set, as we spent the day in a mid-class motel room smoking and coming, and watching bad TV. I paused, standing at the door way, looking back once more. A shaft of moonlight flooded through the gap in the curtains, pouring over the bottom half of Bella's face, hair splayed out across the crisp white pillows, and she looked angelic. The irony was not lost on me, that she seemed so much more holy then myself.

What had I become?

Slipping out into the moon light, I shifted my feet towards the Payette National Forest. I headed for the river that cut a path through the trees, having learned enough that animals tended to congregate near water, and were at there most vulnerable. Payette was a life with all kinds of animals, wild cat, bear, elk, coyote, mountain sheep and more. I found a moose knee deep in the river, his antlered head bowed low, as he lapped at the water. God's creatures, I thought, were all equally beautiful in there own way. I didn't love them the way I once had, having spent to much along side them. It struck me as sad that they had lost there luster to me, that I had fallen so fucking far I couldn't think like an angel any more. But lost miles into the wood, it was easy to remember my Father, my brothers, my life before. Though, I had come to realize as the blood of animals replaces the blood of man, I remembered more.

I missed them. My...family.

The elk went down with out a fight, staggering against the muddy river shore, thick pelt parting beneath my teeth with ease. Pink-tinged water soaked into my clothes, the bitter scent of blood seeping into the fabric as I drank deeply from his neck, his heart fluttering to a butterfly stop beneath my palm, heavy limbs going slack against me. I dragged his lifeless body farther into the wood, an offering to the scavengers of the land. Waste not want not, feed where you fed.

I left it where it lay, hiding myself away in the trees because even though it was animal blood that filled me, I still tended to brood after hunting. The blood warmed me, and I felt heavy with it, letting myself lean against a great pine, my head hanging on my shoulders as I let myself just be, just remember, if only for a moment, the Angel that I had once been, a part of life, the universe, and everything.

Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed by the Angelic voices in my head, as if some one had slipped in and turned up the volume on my Angel FM. I cringe beneath the onslaught of chatter, bell-tone voices ringing out in harmony inside my skull, nothing more then soft murmurs, but hundreds of them, pouring down on me at once.

_'Michah'_

Shock slammed into me, knocking the unnecessary oxygen from my lungs like a punch. My name. It had been so long since I had heard my name on the tongue of an angel, shouted out in Enochian, language of the Angels.

The sound of fluttering wings surrounded me and I looked frantically through the trees but all I saw was light, silver-gold specks of dust caught in the moon light and a single white feather fluttering to the earth.

I caught it in the air with long practices precision, the delicate weight settling into my palm. It was massive, a foot in length, soft white and tinged with gold. And I knew what it was, how the fuck could I not?

An Angel feather.

I stared at it, holding it delicately between my fingers. It smelled like home, and it hurt to touch it. Hurt to hold it in my hand and know that I was touching Heaven. A little piece of Heaven. This couldn't be real, it just couldn't. It burned my fingers where I held it, the purity to much for something like me to much, but I couldn't let go, and wasn't that the story of my fucking life?

I wanted to throw it away. Wanted to cast it into the fires, just to watch it burn, because it _hurt. _My own wings itched beneath my skin, begging to be free, to stretch out like mile long shadows, unfurling in the midnight breeze, black and ashy from damnation. But I couldn't, wouldn't release them in the prepense of my brother. Or just my brothers wing, just a feather from a wing.

I was ashamed.

Such was the folly of succumbing to human emotions. I was ashamed of what I was, of what I had become, so far from Heaven, I was nothing more then a cast away. A earth-bound demon who wouldn't play for one team, and couldn't play for the other. The feather thrummed with a kind of familiarity you just can't forget, and I felt myself choke on new emotions, ones I hadn't felt yet, and couldn't recognize past the pain.

"Gabriel?"

He didn't answer.

"Gabriel!" I shouted, sending birds fluttering from the trees in protest. I could feel him, I thought I could feel him, that tingle in my spine, that feeling of home, but I was alone in the woods, like I was alone in the world, with nobody but my Bella.

And when I looked back at my hand, the feather was gone.

Hot, bubbling anger welled up inside me, rolling through like a hurricane, leaving nothing but devastation in it's wake. I was devastated by the reminder of what wasn't mine. I knew it could happen, had come to that conclusion a century ago. Angels were everywhere, peppered in with the people, but not a one had ever bothered to approach me. Not even Azrael, Mr. Angel of Death, and I was constantly beating him to his kill. Not even the angel who replaced me as Fate Keeper, bothered to track me down and dispatch me. It was almost as if...as if I was forgotten. To hear Gabriel, touch a part of him, it was too much.

Filled with despair that only nostalgia can bring, it was with robotic procession that I took down another moose and let myself float down the river, smacking into rocks and deadwood down the waterfalls, lost in my...hurt.

Perhaps I was dreaming, a waking dream. A nightmare.

It couldn't be real, he couldn't be real, not after all this fucking time I spent alone, spent lost in the world, less man and more a demon, living of the blood of Gods' own. I had been abandoned, I had been cast away from the flock, wings clipped, bounding me to earth.

Gabriel. My brother.

The messenger of God.

I couldn't let myself hope, though, not like this. Not after all this time.

**xXxXxXx**

I didn't make it back to the hotel room till moments before sun rise, soaked in river water, a shredded mockery of clothing hanging from my body. I ducked into the room, skin glinting with diamond light as the pink and orange sunlight peeked up over the horizon.

"Peter?" Bella mumbled from the darkness, her bed-head messy mass of hair perking up through a nest of blankets, Cat emerging beside her. "Oh my god, Peter! What happened?"

I opened my mouth, closing it quickly with a click. I...couldn't say it. Couldn't tell her this. "I...can't." It wasn't enough, wasn't enough to quell the obvious worry creeping up into her expression.

Her brow wrinkled, "Can't what? Hunt animals? Thats...thats okay, Peter. You know that I won't judge you."

And she wouldn't, and that was just...that was amazing. She was amazing. I pulled her to me, crushing her sleepy face into my chest, "No," I said quietly,"not that. I can do that."

"Then what is this all about?" She asked, looking up at me, half her face damp with river water. Her fingers coiled around a tear in my shirt, plucking at the shorn pieces, "Won't you tell me?"

"I can't." I said again, feeling that _feeling _again. Shame.

She nodded slowly, hand sneaking up my chest to wrap around my neck, pulling me down into a strange, soft kiss, "Thats okay."

"I..." I choked, "I'm sorry."

She smiled, long fingers, slipping up into my hair, scratching at my scalp lightly, "Thats okay. When your ready, right? Thats what you told me? You'll tell me when your ready. Now, lets get you cleaned up."

She pulled me silently into the bathroom, tugging away my massacred clothing. Without seeing, feeling, I found myself beneath the fall of hot water, her naked body close to mine, hot palms washing away the mud and sand from my skin with methodical grace. She held her tongue between her teeth as she worked, nails scraping over my skin, rubbing in some sort of weird, girly body wash she had packed that smelled like birthday cake. Smelled like her, not her blood, but her. She smelled like birthday cake, and sunshine, and rain, and Heaven and death, and God...

"I think I love you."

It was said in a whisper, and I wasn't even sure I said it, couldn't be sure I didn't just think it. But she gasped, soapy fingers pausing on my chest. She didn't look up, but stared a burning hole into my chest, where my heart lay un-beating beneath my skin.

Panic, like pain, swelled up inside me, and I was afraid I said the wrong fucking thing, that I had broken the tentative cord that bound us so tightly, but suddenly she crushed herself against me, weak, human arms wrapping so tightly around my body I thought she might hurt herself.

She didn't say anything, and I didn't say anything, content in the silent aftermath of the l-bomb. She patted me dry, a tiny smile curling her lips as she tugged my naked body back into the bed. The last thing I really wanted was to lay still and quiet, giving my mind to many chances to wander, but she wrapped herself around me, tangling our legs, and I let her, happy to make her happy, if that was all I could do.

She fell asleep, steady warm breaths puffing against my collar bone. I tucked the blankets neatly around her, protecting her from my chill. Cat patted gently over the lumpy comforter, coming to rest against her head, curled up in a naked ball on my chest. It was to quiet, leaving doors open my mind for fear and question to escape. Meddling archangels, Gabriel, he was always one to mince word and riddle, and I was half convinced he was fucking with me. I wouldn't put it past the bastard, he had always been given free reign, had melded petter with humans, and sub-sequentially found himself a sense of humor, even if it was one most Angels couldn't understand. He was loyal to my father, no more and no less then I had been. But I wasn't convinced I hadn't dreamed it, hadn't imagined that feather in my hand. Stranger things had happened, and it seemed more plausible then the messenger of God visiting me at random after over one-hundred years of exile.

I sighed, pulling up the corner of the comforter to cover him to, leaving his head peaking out, lamp-like yellow eyes staring down at me as he licked his naked paws with long, sand-paper swipes as if asking me why I bothered dwelling on something I could do so fucking little about. Ass hole.

"Quit looking at me that way." I grumbled, coiling a finger in Bella's hair.

He leveled me with a stare, as if to raise one cat-brow in challenge, not even bothering to retort with his usual _meow_.

"Shut up." I murmured, moving my other hand to pet his wrinkly fur.

**A/N HOLY FUCKING SHIT. And you all were concerned about Bella, and the Cullens. Let it not be forgotten that Peter has just as much a past as Bella, and it is just as likely to come and bite him in the ass. Don't worry, there will still be Cullens. **


	13. Brotherpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 13/?**

**Author: **Lifelesslyndsey

**Category: **Twilight

**Pairing:** Bella x Peter

**Summary:** Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating: **Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

**Word Count:** Around 4500

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, and yet all the characters do what I want. I do own Gabriel, though. That little fucker is mine. As is Cat. Mine. Mine. Mine.

**HOT FOR BETA! **This chapter was beta'd for you by: VampishVixen (she's a total babe too)

**A/N: This chapter is like whoa! **

_**Previously**_

_She fell asleep, steady warm breaths puffing against my collar bone. I tucked the blankets neatly around her, protecting her from my chill. Cat padded gently over the lumpy comforter, coming to rest against her head, curled up in a naked ball on my chest. It was too quiet, leaving doors open in my mind for fear and question to escape. Meddling archangels – Gabriel – he was always one to mince words and riddle, and I was half convinced he was fucking with me. I wouldn't put it past the bastard; he had always been given free reign, had melded petter with humans, and sub-sequentially found himself a sense of humor, even if it was one most Angels couldn't understand. He was loyal to my father, no more and no less then I had been. But I wasn't convinced I hadn't dreamed it, hadn't imagined that feather in my hand. Stranger things had happened, and it seemed more plausible than the messenger of God visiting me at random after over one-hundred years of exile._

_**Now On Once Bitten Twice Shy**_

**xXxXxXx**

__I had managed two more hunts in as many weeks without Angelic incident, enough to convince me that it was nothing more then a momentary lapse in sanity. That it never happened, maybe it was just some funky side effect to animal blood or maybe Crazy was contagious. I did spend a lot of time with Bella.

So, it never happened, I was pretty sure of that. Why the fuck would it? It was sad, pathetic, wishful fucking thinking on my part to even entertain the concept that any of my long lost brothers would give a fuck about me, and I knew it was for the best that I put it out of my mind before I go bat-shit crazy dwelling on the impossible. God didn't care about me anymore, and that was just a fucking fact.

We continued our cross country crawl, taking roads and exits at random, never caring where we ended up, or where we were headed. Having spent a century accustomed to tightly-scheduled planning, it was sort of a nice change to let myself relax.

**xXxXxXxXx**

We traveled through Idaho and into Utah, hitting up oddball roadside attractions as we went. On days that the sun locked us in, we fucked around and watched motel porn, slipping out when the sun set to see what we could find to fill the night. Bella never complained about the downfalls of traveling with a vampire, and I never complained that she snored, farted, or had morning breath that smelled like New York sewage. We were cool like that.

She had her feet propped up on the dashboard, stripe-socked toes bouncing to some whiney alternative bitch boy music pouring out of the radio as we cruised down I-15 just as it poured into 1-84 twenty miles past the border of Idaho and into Utah. My fingers itched to turn the channel, but I refrained. She was humming, smiling to herself as she rummaged nearly elbow deep into her oversized shiny monstrosity of a purse.

Salt Lake City smelled like shit. Or rather rancid, fetid water. Apparently, this wasn't a regular thing and we chose one of the few days of the year that the whole City smelled like a sweaty ass full of rancid tuna.

And it was sunny. Very sunny. A vampires fucking nightmare, is what it was.

We stopped anyways.

**x**

**xXxXxXx**

**x**

It wasn't exactly overcast, but between the smog and sparse clouds, Bella and I had managed to escape the motel by five and found ourselves staring down. Way the fuck down.

__"What is it that I am looking at here, Peter?" Bella said, eye-brow quirked at today's attraction. Cat was tucked away in her oversized purse, his wrinkly naked head peeking out over the side in mild disdain, yellow-green eyes quick to glare. I held the pamphlet up, reading from the tiny squashed paragraph in the most monotone voice I could muster.

"The Bingham Canyon Mine holds the coveted title of 'Biggest Pit in the World' - and it is a major tourist draw. Why bother with way-the-hell-out-of-the-way Grand Canyon when you can gaze at something just as spectacular only a half-hour drive from Salt Lake City?" Looking up over the pamphlet to see Bella's unimpressed face, I smiled, "It's a big old hole in the ground."

"This isn't the biggest pit in the world. Jacob Black is the biggest pit in the world. Why the fuck would any one covet the title Biggest Pit in the World? I mean, really, do the other pits feel inferior before this pit's mighty prowess? I bet they do. Someone should hug them. Fuck, I'm rambling. It's the meds; I'm all out of whack." She continued, nodding, "I feel small."

I snorted at her incessant rambling. It had become more and more common it seemed, as the medication was weaned from her body. She wasn't really different, fidgety perhaps, but still Bella. It was...a relief. I won't lie and say that I wasn't worried, even she was worried.

"You should feel small. If this were a stadium it would fit," I flipped through the pamphlet once more,"...nine million people." Shrugging, I tucked the pamphlet into my back pocket. Bella had taken to hoarding them from all our road side attractions. She had even sent one or two post cards to Jacob.

She leaned back against my chest, staring into the gaping hole in the ground. "So this is what God does with his time?"

"What?"

"This. This natural phenomenon. Wait, is it a natural phenomenon? Is this what God does?" she asked again, tilting her head to look up at me as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Where is God?"

I blinked, pausing a fraction too long to pretend to consider her question. Because I knew where God was. God was a big enough presence to be everywhere and no where all at once; or at least that was what I was lead to believe. But that didn't answer shit, and I understood that now, in a way I could have never managed had I still held my grace. "I don't know Bella. He's around, I'm sure."

_There_. See, still faithful.

She nodded slowly, hands hooking around my arms where they lay across her chest in a backwards hug, "Yeah, I'm sure he is. But sometimes, I just feel like the world is a fucking ant farm, and he only puts us back if we escape. And sometimes the ant farm gets tipped over on Gods desk, and in his scramble to right us, he accidently spills his Diet Coke and those are hurricanes and junk."

Again, I was momentarily speechless, because, fuck, looking past all the weird, that about summed it up. God watched, with the ability to dictate every motion and notion, but never doing so unless fate was altered. Ant farm. We were ants.

"Free will," I said, almost at random, wanting to dispute the claim that we were insects to the All Mighty Big Man. "You know...make your own choices. Even ants don't get that."

"Don't they? I mean, an ant in a box will do the same thing as an ant not in a box. Hoard for the queen." She made what I could only assume were wiggly bug fingers at this, before continuing with a new breath, "They wouldn't even know the difference. And...I mean, if we're going with this analogy, that makes us the Ant-Gods, and do the ants know we exist? No."

"I don't think the ants know to think outside the box." I replied, not intending the double meaning, "I mean, I don't think they can think beyond there daily routine. They're not people. I don't think they have the proper brain capacity to understand the notion of higher power."

"Most people don't think outside the box either. It's just that believing in God has become part of the box. Blind faith. Thoughtless faith. Is it believing if we only believe because we were told to? Gods in the box because we put him there. Does that mean he's there, just because we say so?" She made a disgruntled noise.

I huffed out a laugh against her hair, propping my chin on her head, "That is the nature of faith, Bella. But it isn't blind exactly. I mean...just because he isn't exactly an active member of the ant colony..."

"This ant analogy is confusing. I just...I believe in God. I always have. And I haven't exactly had the most religious upbringing. My mother, she went Buddha on me for about a month. I don't know...I just...I need a sign. I need to know that my faith wasn't wasted."

It'd be a lie to say I wasn't tempted to offer her proof, but I was a sad excuse of Proof of God, and really it went against Faith to show her. "Do you feel like it was wasted? Do you feel like believing isn't worth it?"

She turned in my arms, ignoring Cat's snarled meow of protest as her bag was knocked about, "No. I think that faith in anything is good for a person. Faith in yourself, faith in love, faith in others. It isn't always wise, but it gives people hope."

"And that is the nature of faith. Faith is believing without proof. It's... trusting yourself enough to relinquish that part of you. Does that make sense?" I explained, albeit awkwardly.

Bella smiled, raising to the tips of her toes to kiss me softly, the kind of kisses we rarely shared. It made my mouth feel strange, and my stomach flip, but the sensation wasn't an unpleasant one.

"There's proof if you know where to look, I think. I believe in God," She said with a smile, "just like I believe in you. Not so long ago, Vampires didn't exist; at least, not to me. But when I looked closer, I saw enough proof that they were real. There is enough proof of God. It's just a matter of knowing where to look. I guess you sort of have to want to see it."

"And where do you see God, Bella?" I asked, because I was curious, because Bella didn't know she was having a theological discussion with an evicted Angel, and it had been a long time since I talked about my Father with anyone. And because, maybe, it was nice to see someone believe. And maybe because I missed my Father, more and more these days.

She shrugged, "Rainbows. Free Internet porn. The feeling you get with the first stretch of the morning. Orgasms. Nipples on men. Inexplicable awesome things. Like you said, the dude is everywhere."

I could feel myself laughing even before I heard it, shoulders shaking as I hugged Bella tighter, my cheek pressed against her head, "Oh fuck...Bella...that's just...that's great."

The conception that her faith in God was comprised of refracted sun rays, porn, yawning, sex and nipples, of all things, was just too fucking funny. I had been an Angel of the Lord for a millenium, blindly following all that my Father representing. An Angel of the fucking Lord stood before her, and she believed in God because of _nipples_. In small things. Small, inexplicable, awesome things.

She smiled too, as my laughter died down, burying her face in my shirt. "Maybe if I keep looking, one day I'll find him," she said quietly, her cheek pressed against my chest.

**x**

**xXxXxXxXx**

**x**

We left Utah behind us, fading into Wyoming in the dead of night. Yellowstone was perhaps one of the more conventional of our visited attractions, but I had convinced Bella that maybe we would see a Jackalope while we were there, and she was game.

It was a slow and lazy Monday, and the constant, steady stream of rain didn't help. But Bella, she wasn't one to bow down to the weather, and she strapped on her surprisingly yellow, squeaky boots, bought an umbrella at a gas station and dragged both our asses around Yellowstone.

"This place is like Costco for vampires," Bella said out of a blue, stuffing her mouth full of brightly colored gummy worms she bought with the umbrella. "Seriously, you have everything you need right here. Talk about variety." She flipped open yet another pamphlet, brown eyes darting over the harsh yellow font. "Bears, wolves, moose, elk, bison, badger. Fuck, you could eat an otter."

"I'm not hunting here," I said, again. "Bella, I'm not going to fucking hunt here!"

She sighed, folding up her pamphlet all wrong, and I wanted to snatch it out of her hand and correct it, but I refrained, for now. I'd get it later. I knew she did that shit to irritate me. "Why? I mean, seriously, you've got the spice of fucking life all up in this forizzle."

"I am going to assume you mean forest," I replied, blinking, "and I am not hunting here because this is a family fucking establishment and I don't feel right massacring the wildlife where children play. It's weird."

She rolled her eyes, throwing Cat half a gummy worm inside her purse. He had become some sort of permanent fixture in there, and seemed to understand that the moment he took a piss in there the deal was done. His naked head stretched out, snapping the lime-green gummy from between her fingers before sinking back within the purse's dark depths.

Seriously, what the fuck didn't she have in there?

"It isn't like you'd be killing Bambi in front of them," she argued. "But hey, to each their own anal-retentive eating habits. Come on, I want to see the Biscuit Basin. Seriously, they could have at least taken the time to come up with better names."

"You're just disappointed you can't make them sound dirtier," I noted absently, as we walked down the little cement stretch. We stood against the wooden fence, watching, and ultimately waiting because according to her cell phone, we still had six minutes till explodey-geyser-time.

"Give me that," she said, tugging the umbrella free from between us. Cold water seeped in to our clothes instantly as she closed the umbrella, shoving it soaking wet into her purse much to the audible disgust of Cat.

"You're going to get all wet," I protested, pushing an already wet curl from her face. She smiled up at me, the tip of her tongue caught between her teeth as she shrugged.

"Standing in the rain is a part of life," she explained simply, hooking her arm into mine. I stared out into the rocky pool of grey-green water, hearing every single rain drop splash against my skin, and hers. We were soaked within the first minute, rain drops clinging to our eye lashes making everything, at least to my eyes, shine brighter.

I watched the rain drops hit the water's surface, hundreds of ripples expanding and crashing, circle after circle stretching across the waters surface until the rain fell so hard that there was no room to grow, only fall and splash, and join the collective. To Bella, I knew the world was blurred by the down fall. But I could see every drop, every brilliant, and bright drop of water as they came crashing down to the earth, exploding against the surface, exploding into a thousand of tiny rainbows.

Rainbows. This, this was what God did in his spare time.

Bella was right; standing in the rain was a part of life.

She turned in my arms, keeping our bodies pressed together as the geyser exploded. It was no surprise that I was unimpressed by the incredible phenomena, but there was really nothing as amazing as the girl standing before me, rainbow-water drops clinging to her lashes.

**x**

**xXxXx**

**x**

I was lazing in bed while Bella showered, an activity I had only recently acquired. I'd tossed my rain soaked shirt onto the floor, and changed my dress-slacks for a pair of loose cotton sleep pants straight out of the plastic package.

I felt the bed dip slightly, steam spreading Bella's scent about the room. It was clearer these days, cleaner. We'd been on the road for the better part of three weeks, and it was easy to see the medication was slowing leaving her body. She didn't sleep as well, and wasn't as hungry, but she was still happy, still smiling, brilliant real smiles.

She curled her naked body beside me, brushing the pads of her thumbs across my closed eye lids. "You look pretty, pretending to sleep."

I snorted indignantly, but didn't open my eyes, "I'm not pretty Bella. I'm a manly vampire."

"A very pretty, manly vampire then," She said softly, kissing the bottom bend of my jaw, "How do vampires get stubble?"

"What?"

"Stubble," She repeated, running her hand along my course jaw, "I mean, you're all dead and shit, how's that grow?"

"Oh," I ran my own hand down my jaw absently, "Venom burns out most the nutrients we take in with the blood we consume. But our bodies store some nutrients, so we can last between feedings. Vampires who feed regularly don't store as much, because their bodies know they don't need to. When I fed from humans, I didn't feed as often. Once a month, twice tops. I feed one week now. My body is probably still storing nutrients from the humans I fed on. If they're stored long enough, it can cause hair and nail growth. It's a very slow process though. I haven't shaved in probably ten years. It'll be longer, since I feed regularly now. Do you find it displeasing?"

Bella laughed, kissing my jaw again. "No, I like it. I didn't know about all that nutrient junk about vampires, but come to think of it Jazz sometimes had stubble. I never thought to ask him, though we weren't that close."

Jazz. I hadn't heard the name before, but I could assume that it was one of her Coven. Jazz. Again, warning bells rang in my mind, a little niggling of knowing, but I couldn't put my finger on it, and I knew better than to ask.

Bella hummed, trailing fingers down my bare stomach, loose tendrils of her hair leaving wet paths on my skin. She smiled, kissing above my navel as something soft brushed down my chest. "What are you doing?" I asked, amused, my eye lashes fluttering against her gentle assault.

In all honesty, it sort of tickled, and that was a difficult feat to accomplish.

"Tactile torture," she replied, following the path she had trailed with open mouthed kisses, her tongue brushing against my skin randomly. I could feel the muscles in my stomach clench beneath her mouth, anticipatory and curious.

She continued her soft seduction, teeth nipping at the snug-fit waist of my sleep pants, until I took the hint, hooking them with my thumbs and pushing them down. They never made it past my knees, as she pressed on, nipping sharply at my thighs. She couldn't do any real damage to any part of my anatomy, but the inherent threat was there, sending shivers down my spine.

The softness continued, brushing down my hips, and up my cock. It fucking tickled, and my curiosity got the better of me. I opened my eyes just so, and instantly wished I hadn't.

Sitting up so abruptly Bella was knocked off the end of the bed in a sprawl of limbs and indignant grunts, I snatched the fucking feather out of the air, crumpling its perfection beneath my palm.

"Oh hell, Peter. Fuck, what the hell did you do that for?" Bella grunted, pulling her upper half back on the bed. She rubbed the back of her head with a pissed-off look, but I couldn't...I couldn't even fucking think.

"Where did you get this?" I demanded, waving the fucking feather errantly. I was up and out of the bed faster then she could see, and she flinched. "Bella! Where the fuck did you get this?"

"Yellowstone. Peter what is wrong with you? It's just a fucking feather. From a swan or something," she replied, crawling back up into the bed, eyeing me warily.

"A feather?" I snorted, but even as the first bubble laugher escaped me, I found myself laughing somewhat hysterically, on the ceiling of all places. "Just a feather. It's just a feather. Fuck. I have to hunt."

"Peter! Wait! You're half naked! You can't just-"

But I couldn't stay; I couldn't look her in the eye. The feather burned in my palm, and I cringed at the thought of exactly where it had been.

On my dick.

Not that Bella knew, no, but that didn't make my skin crawl any less. I had just had a piece of my brother rubbed on my junk. On my fucking junk.

I was standing between the dense, towering pine trees, half dressed and trembling.

"Gabriel!"

Nothing. Not that I had expected anything, really.

"Gabriel you fucking bastard, get down here!"

_'I'm already here, little brother. No need to scream.'_

I flinched, feeling his oppressing presence crush down upon me. His voice was silent, but I could hear it, faintly. Like an echo in my mind. "Why can't I see you?"

_ 'You're not ready to see me, little brother. Not yet.' _

I could feel him moving around me, his amusement tainting the air. It was as if he was in my face screaming, but I couldn't see him, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention, the inherent vampiric instincts cringing against the contradicting assaults of fight or flight.

"Why are you here?" I growled, fingers still clenched around the God-forsaken feather. "Why now? Why...Gabriel, why now?" I hated the way my voice broke, the way my hands trembled, and the way that even though I couldn't see him, I couldn't look up, knowing he was there.

He stood before me, so close I could almost feel him like a second skin, feel his fingers touch my cheek, ghosting across my jaw with all the brotherly affection that had once been mine to claim. '_Micha...' _

"Peter. I'm Peter now," I whispered, "I haven't been Micha in a very long time, Gabriel. I'm not an angel any more. I'm...I'm a demon now."

His anger flashed like lightening, wind whipping through the trees, tearing at the branches and he was moving again. Behind me now, I could feel him, the heat of his palm pressed between my shoulder blades, the long-foreign authority drawing me up, and I felt my wings rip free as he beckoned them, tearing with a piercing screech through my demon skin. I could feel the venom drip in rivets down my back.

I closed my eyes, closed them against the truth. "Why are you doing this to me, brother? Why?" My wings quivered, as I pulled them tightly to my body, tucking them against me like a shield. Even through the shin veneer of my eyelids, I could see the long stretches of shadows they cast in the moonlight.

Wind tugged at my hair, and he was beside me again, whispering in my ear, _'Open your eyes, Micah. You are, as you always have been, an Angel.'_

I obeyed, letting my lashes flutter to a stuttering open. My wings stretched, expanding out between the close growing trees, shaking like an underused muscle. I could feel Gabriel hands pet them, long, lithe fingers gliding through the silk feathers, and I cringed because they were ugly, and not worthy of the attention.

_'You don't let them out enough,' _Gabriel commented almost lightly, _'Look at them.' _

And I did, because I was weak to him. I craned my neck to examine the tattered remains of my grace and gasped. "How? How is this happening?"

Peppering the charred remains of my wings were pristine dove-colored feathers, catching moonlight like silver.

_ 'You are not a demon.' _

It wasn't an answer, but it was Gabriel, and I had long since known as much. I sighed, reaching over to stroke the new feathers, "Gabriel...not that I am ungrateful...but why now? I'm...I'm finally happy. Gabriel?"

_ 'Isabella is something else, isn't she?' _ was Gabriel's non-answer, and I bristled at the mention of my...'_Mate?' _Gabriel supplied. _'Is that not what the Vampires call it?' _

"Yes." I replied hesitantly, "What does Bella have to do with...with this?"

_'Nothing. Everything. She is but a human in the grand scheme of things. But I can see that you love her.'_

"I...I do. It is strange. It is so very much unlike the love I had... _have_ for Father, or for you guys. But...it is still a massive part of me. It isn't...it isn't' like the soothing presence of Him. It... hurts, kind of. It's just so _much_." I realized I was rambling, and quieted, hanging my head, one wing drooping as my shoulders fell. "I don't understand why your here now, after so long, Gabriel. Surely you can tell me."

_'We couldn't find you.'_ Gabriel admitted, though his reluctance was palpable.

_ 'We searched, Micah, please believe that we did. But...when you were turned...we lost your grace. And as you know...fate says little about Vampires. Vampires have no set fate. Even father couldn't find you. We felt you...just recently. Perhaps it is your love? I do not know of such things. But we found you Micah. Surely you know what this means?' _

"No."

It was both a lie, and an answer, and I felt Gabriel disappear from my side in a whisper of wind, taking with him the tainted feather and leaving me behind sick with the knowledge of what could be, and what couldn't.

**X**

**xXxXxXx**

**X**

When I returned, Bella was, as I expected, still quite awake, sitting on the bed with Cat in her lap. "Peter, I was so worried. Are you okay?"

"Shouldn't you be mad at me?" I said, in lieu of reply. "I upended you and stormed out a hysterical mess."

"Which is what had me worried. You're a pretty level headed person most days." She paused, nose wrinkling up. "Did I do something to upset you? Because if I knew you had a thing about feathers I wo-"

"No. You didn't do anything wrong. The feather..." I sighed. I couldn't lie to her, but I couldn't tell her the whole truth. She'd probably think I was fucking crazy, and even if I did show her the wings...I had no idea how she would handle it. I would tell her the truth, just as soon as I got some damn answers from Gabriel. I had no doubt he'd be back.

"The feather is from an... .someone I knew a very long time ago. It... scared me. I didn't know that he was back in town, and honestly, I'm not sure I really want to see him. The feather... it's like his calling card, sort of," I explained cautiously. "I'm not sure how I feel...having him around."

"Can I meet him?" she asked instantly. "Is he some one important to you? Don't think that you can't... I don't know... but whatever it is, don't think you can't because of me. Our histories are a part of us we carry forever. It's the one thing you can't get rid of."

I huffed out a sad little laugh, "Yeah, tell me about it. But no, I don't think you'll be meeting him. He's not the most sociable person. He hasn't even let me see him, but I do know he's around." And that wasn't a lie, now was it?

**A/N Hee hee. Peter got molested by brother bits. **


	14. Factpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 14**

**Author: Lifelesslyndsey**

**Category: Twilight**

**Pairing: Bella x Peter**

**Summary: **Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons**

**Word Count: Around 4000**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, and yet all the characters do what I want. I do own Gabriel, though. That little fucker is mine. As is Cat. Mine. Mine. Mine.

**Somehow she has become my beta; I don't know how this happened, but when I have the need for semi-colons and proper grammar, she's there, shoving them down my throat like Flintstone gummies. Give it up for VampishVixen.**

**A/N: I don't really know what to say in this authors note so I'm just going to shamelessly plug my new story Hit and Run. It's Alistair and Bella, and you know what, before you think it, I know, that's weird. But you thought that about Peter and Bella too, and this fuckery is made of Win. **

Oh, and read the A/N at the bottom, it's full of fuckery and links and shit.

Oh, and the places I list in this story, that they visit, are totally real.

**Previously on OBTS**

_"The feather is from an... .someone I knew a very long time ago. It... scared me. I didn't know that he was back in town, and honestly, I'm not sure I really want to see him. The feather... it's like his calling card, sort of," I explained cautiously. "I'm not sure how I feel...having him around."_

_"Can I meet him?" she asked instantly. "Is he someone important to you? Don't think that you can't... I don't know... but whatever it is, don't think you can't because of me. Our histories are a part of us we carry forever. It's the one thing you can't get rid of."_

_I huffed out a sad little laugh, "Yeah, tell me about it. But no, I don't think you'll be meeting him. He's not the most sociable person. He hasn't even let me see him, but I do know he's around." And that wasn't a lie, now was it?_

"Hey," I nudged Bella gently, brushing the hair from her face as we drove down yet another highway. "Hey Bella, wake up. Are you hungry?"

"Mmm. Sleep," was her groggy reply, as she rolled over in the dropped-back seat, dislodging Peen from his precarious perch on her hip. He hissed, climbing into the back cab with the kind of indifference only an ugly hairless cat could muster.

I sighed, ignoring her sleepy demand, merging onto an exit that promised a Waffle House. "You skipped dinner last night. You have to be hungry."

She nodded sleepily, "Am hungry, just more tired."

"Eat, come on. It's waffles. You_ love_ waffles. And after you eat, we can go see the Rapid City Dinosaur Park." I'd seen the billboards on our way in, and it seemed just the place for Bella.

Bella's head perked up, and she gave me a sleepy smile, "Dinosaurs and waffles, you say? You sure do know the way to this girl's heart." She gave a theatrical yawn, and stretched her back arching up off the sweat sticky leather seats. Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out her hair brush, taming the tangled mess of curls with no less then one stretchy hair band thing, seven bobby-pins, and a familiar pair of paint brushes.

"Why do you use those?" I asked, nodding with a jerk of my chin to her hair, "the paint brushes, I mean. You don't paint do you?"

She grinned, sliding the second paint brush firmly in place. "Me? No, these belong to my mother. She paints. I stole them the last time I saw her because I couldn't find a hair tie, and I just...never gave them back. I've been using them ever since. That must have been...four years ago."

The bright lemon yellow squares making up the Waffle House sign blared above us as I parked the truck. "You haven't seen your mother in four years?"

She raised one smooth brow, and gave me a hard smile, one that suggested this topic of conversation was not a smart one. "No. I haven't," she said shortly, grabbing up the familiar plastic Dracula Pez dispenser from the glove compartment and shoving it in her bag. Clearly the subject was closed to discussion. "If I order banana pancakes, will you order chocolate chip? I want to mash them together. And get chocolate syrup." She looked into the back seat, and smiled warmly at Cat, speaking in the baby tones he had come to love. Oohing and cooing, she scratched his head, "Mommy will bring back the hairless little ball sack some bacon, yes she will, oh yes she will!"

We sat beside each other at the table, rather then across. Bella explained that it was much easier to steal my food inconspicuously, but my ego believed it was because she liked to be near me. She leaned against me, her cheek resting against my forearm after we had ordered, hands fidgeting with her candy dispenser. Her fingers trembled, rattling the pills against the plastic.

"Let me help," I pried the worn orange and yellow plastic from her hand. "Your hands are shaking, are you okay?" I slid back Dracula's hair, my finger rubbing over the paint-less white worn spot, depositing a pill onto one of the white napkins. "How many do you need?"

"I was hungrier then I thought, I guess. My blood sugar must be low. The next five, the last four are for dinner," she explained shakily, sliding the pill across the table, and swallowing it dry.

"I thought you were taking less now?" I asked, confused. "Ten pills in one day?"

She chuckled, mouthing down the rest of her medication, "Believe it or not, ten isn't that much. I'm taking a lot less now though, without all the extra perky-pills. Not all of these are the anti-depressants. Most of them are coagulants, and iron supplements, and some hemoglobin inhibitors. Can't be bleeding all over your fancy Italian upholstery."

I sighed, turning my head to nuzzle her hair, the harsh scent of hotel shampoo burning my nose, but it didn't matter, because beneath that was the chemical lavender scent I had come to love; less chemical, and more lavender every day. "You'd tell me, wouldn't you, if there was something wrong?"

She smiled at the waitress as she set down our plates before us, picking up her fork lightly, before turning in her seat to pin me with that smile of hers, the one that showed her dimples, and made her eyes seem brighter. "Yes, Peter. I would tell you if something was wrong."

And it wasn't a lie, I could see that much. She'd tell me if something was wrong, I trusted her enough to believe that. She kissed me, once on the nose, and once on the mouth, and once on the cheek for good measure, before leaning up to bring her mouth to my ear, her whispered voice warm against my skin.

"I think I love you too, you know."

**!#$%^&**

Her words carried me the short drive to the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota. They were hardly a Shakespeare-fucking-worthy declaration of undying love, but they were the very same words I had whispered to her only weeks ago, and they might have been poetry to my ears.

I had never heard them said to me before.

She escaped the cab of the truck with all the childlike glee I had come to associate with Bella, Peen tucked safely away in her big purse, no doubt eating bacon out of a plastic zip-lock bag.

"Wow."

I laughed, watching Bella crane her neck to look up at the massive cement and fiberglass brontosaurus, painted a vibrant kelly green. She turned back at me, glaring over a smile.

"How big is it? I know you know. You know you know. So bust out that pamphlet we both know you have and share with the class, Factpire," she said, snapping her fingers and pointing at me with one long, pale index finger

"Eighty feet long, and twenty-eight feet high, Bella" I said, peering at her over yet another pamphlet. "Apparently it's been around for seventy years."

"Impressive," she said with a grin, scrambling back down the steps. "Come on Peter!"

I raced behind her, swooping her up in my arms like a baby or a bride, Peen hanging from her arm. "Where to, Bella?"

Reaching her free hand around my arm, she smacked my ass with a grin, giving it a squeeze for good measure, before slipping her hand into the pocket. "To the triceratops, good sir."

I deposited her before the smallest of the dinosaurs, watching as she scaled its smooth surface, hands curling around the horns. She seated herself, straddling its neck, patting the spot behind her. "Come on Peterpire-uh oh."

"Uh oh? What uh-oh?" I asked in alarm, systematically scanning her with my eyes for any sudden injury.

"Sun's coming out, we better bolt," she said with a sigh. "No, wait, come here really quick. Then we can go."

I eyed the sun threatening to peek out from behind the clouds, at six in the fucking afternoon. "Okay, I guess." I climbed atop the cement monster, seating myself behind Bella, resting my chin on her shoulder. "Now what?"

"Picture, of course," She replied, grabbing both her camera, and Peen from her bag. She held him close, tucking his head beneath both our chins. Handing me the camera as she always did, she struck a smile, hair wrapping around her chin in the wind . I held it out, and smiled, clicking the shutter button just as she turned to kiss my cheek.

It was cheesy.

I loved it.

**!#$%^&**

"Come on Peter, it has covered parking. It's better then hanging out in the truck," she argued, jutting out her bottom lip, and batting her dark lashes at me, giving me The Look. I was immune to its powers at this point, and I simply turned away.

"You don't have to stay in the truck. I don't mind. Let's just go back to the hotel." I was whining, but it didn't matter. I wasn't going in there. I wasn't.

So, how I found myself in a bar ten minutes later, I'll never know. It probably had something to do with the shirt lifting and her lack of bra, but I didn't feel the need to examine the situation any closer.

The bar was dark, smoky, and loud. Bella held my hand, pulling me along to the counter. She flashed the bartender a big smile, snapped her fingers and pointed to the tap, before holding up two fingers. Bar talk, for...whatever. No less then five minutes later two glasses sat before us, filled with amber-colored beer, condensation rolling down the side, leaving wet rings on the white napkins beneath them.

"You ordered me a beer?" I asked flatly, staring at the glass with a scowl.

"No," Bella corrected, pulling the beer by the napkin closer to her, "I ordered myself two."

"You're not a puker, are you?" I asked warily, watching her gulp down beer number one. "I'd like to think myself fairly tolerant of your bodily functions up until this point, but I really don't want to deal with vomit. I won't hold your hair."

She laughed, wiping her upper lip with her thumb. "You always say that, but you and I both know that you totally would."

I sighed.

Bella made small talk with the bartender, and made fun of me, moving steadily into her second beer. She was brilliant and vibrant, and attracting the attention of more than a few pairs of eyes. I scowled, sitting silent and stiff beside her, feeling wholly out of place. She didn't mind, hooking her ankle around mine, her hand resting in my lap.

"I have to pee." Bella announced, slipping off the barstool and making her way to a restroom, some how inherently knowing where one would be. She threw me a wink over her shoulder, before losing herself in the small Friday crowd.

It was to my complete and total confusion that I found myself suddenly uncomfortably close to the petite form of a platinum blonde woman. Smiling at me with nearly-white teeth and dimples, the mystery woman slid into Bella's seat as if she owned it.

"Well hello there Sugar, I couldn't help but notice you all alone at the bar," she said in way of greeting, leaning against the counter, elbow propped up, her chin in her hand. "What's your name, darlin'?" She asked, moving her other hand to rest at the crook of my elbow.

"Peter," I replied uncomfortably, shaking off her hand, "and I'm not alone."

The blonde made a face that I could only interpret as disgust of some sort, "Oh that brown haired girl? I didn't realize-"

"You didn't realize that we were together? Didn't realize that you parked your big fat ass in my seat? Didn't realize that your boobs were fake? All of that's pretty obvious to me."

Bella stood behind the woman, one eye brow raised. "Are you blind? Or stupid..." She glanced down at the necklace hanging around the woman's neck, reading the elaborately cut name hanging from the chain. "Charlotte?"

The blonde, Charlotte, apparently, gaped, opening her mouth to retort when Bella cut her off with an errant wave of her hand.

"So, now that we've established that he and I are in fact together, please remove your claws from my boyfriend before I beat you fucking silly and use your cheap ass weave to mop up the blood."

Charlotte's eyes widened comically and she backed away. "I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"Yes, we know, now go away," Bella spat, tapping her foot impatiently, "Get the fuck out of my seat and go away!"

"That was strange," I noted, looking over my shoulder warily. "I tried to tell her..."

"I know," Bella assured me. "I should have known better than to leave you alone for ten seconds in a goddamn bar, sorry Peter. You're too damn beautiful."

"I...I'm awkward."

She laughed. "Awkward beautiful, then," she reiterated, picking up her beer.

It was barely twenty minutes later when a brilliant pink shot glass was sat down in front of her. "From the guy in the corner; said something about you getting bored with your lawyer, you could join him."

Bella stared at the drink for a moment, and then at the man in question. He was big, smaller then me, but still big by human standards. He was wearing a baby blue t-shirt a size too small, with the arms cut off and a white cow boy hat. He looked like a bigger tool then I did in the bar.

Bella scrunched up her nose, that little wrinkle forming between her eyes. She was silent, too silent for my liking, before snatching it up the shot and drinking it down. She slammed the glass on the counter and let out a little hiss. "Whooh. That burns. Do me a favor, send him a shot back. Butterscotch Schnapps and Baileys Irish cream, if you would, you know the one I'm talking about. And tell him it's from my _lawyer_."

The bartender chuckled, moving down the bar to place her order, laughing to himself. We both watched as he moved across the bar, setting the shot down in front of the man. The man scowled, his eyes snapping up to meet mine, much to my surprise.

"Glare at him Peter. Do your mean face," Bella whispered, elbowing me in the ribs.

I obeyed easily, throwing on a scowl, my jaw locked firmly in place. The man flinched, turning in his seat before shoving the shot to the side.

"What was that?" I asked curiously, "I don't understand."

"That was you defending my honor," Bella explained, grabbing up the rest of my beer. "The drink was a Cock Sucking Cowboy. You just told him to suck your cock, Peter," she explained with a smirk.

"Oh." If my reply was ineloquent, well, what more could I say to that? "Well, fuck."

She laughed, standing up to kiss my cheek, her breath smelling of a strange mixture of candy and beer. "Peter, I'm yours. Don't doubt that. Come on, let's get out of here."

**!#$%^&**

We left the bar, bursting out of the smoky darkness into the fading evening light. The sun had sank back behind the clouds and we were making our way through the little covered plaza when Bella suddenly grinned, stopping short.

"Peter," she said abruptly.

I laughed at the seriousness in her voice, wondering what on earth she could find so serious in a parking lot of all places, as Bella was hardly ever fucking serious. "What?"

"Tattoos, Peter," she said, pointing errantly at the blinking red sign that did indeed read TATTOO vertically, jutting out the front of a shop that looked like it had actually been a barber shop at one point, a red and white striped spinning thing turning feebly beneath the tattoo sign. "I need one. It's on the list."

"Really? You need to get a tattoo, like...right now? In the middle of bum-fuck South Dakota?" I asked, with an exasperated smile, because I really wasn't all that surprised by Bella's whims any more, just amused. "A tattoo is a big thing, Bella, do you know what you want to get?"

She paused, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Yeah, I think I do. Do you want to wait for me?" She asked, already heading towards the shop.

"Wait? Why? I'm coming with you." I said abruptly, following in her wake.

"S'blood, I expect. Can you handle it?" she asked with genuine concern. "You haven't been hunting as often. You can just go keep Peen company, I doubt this will take a while."

"No. I'm coming in with you. Peen's fine in the car."

**!#$%^&**

The inside of the tattoo parlor smelled of rubbing alcohol and bleach, which I found some what relieving. A girl with four eyebrow rings greeted us at a counter wedged up against a wall near the door. She had a blue tag tattooed just below her clavicle, revealed by a low cut black tank top. It read '_Hello, my name is Becky.'_

"What can I do for ya folks?" Becky asked, popping a pink watermelon scented gum bubble. "Tats? Rings? Pick your poison. We got a two-for-one special on nipple piercing. Dick rings are half off if you let us take a picture." She winked at me, eyes drifting downwards to settle on my crotch and I cringed. Who the hell would pierce their dick? Humans. Heathens. All of them.

"I want to get a tattoo," Bella said eagerly, drawing Becky's attention away from my frightened genitalia.

"What and where?" Becky asked, pulling out a yellow sheet from a neat little cubby, and sliding it to Bella. "Standard release form."

"Of course," Bella said flippantly, signing the paper. "Um...it's a surprise. So I'd rather not say just yet...is that okay?" She looked up at me and grinned wickedly, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. "I want it on my ass though."

Becky shrugged, "Hey, it's all okay if you got the cash."

Bella's grin only spread further as she smacked a wad of crumpled bills on the counter.

!#$%^&

The tattoo artist looked at Bella, and then at the paper with an unreadable expression, hand guarding the details of the tattoos, which were being conspiratorially kept from me. Ass holes, the both of them. "Just like that? That's it?"

"Just like that. That's all I need."

"Shouldn't take more then twenty minutes. Fifty bucks'll get ya in and out." He leaned around Bella, getting a good look at her ass. "You got enough meat back there that it shouldn't hurt too much. You wearing panties? Health Regulation Standards say you gotta be wearing panties for this."

"I'm wearing panties," she assured him, her grin wider. "You go wait out there Peter. I'll call you back when I'm done."

"Why can't I be back there?" I asked again, eyeing the tattoo guy with obvious distrust. "Bella, come on. I can handle it."

She sighed, smiling, "I am sure you can handle it, but it's a surprise so park your tight little ass out there, and twiddle your fucking thumbs or something."

I seated myself in the uncomfortable plastic chairs in front of the reception area, much to my displeasure, as she disappeared into the back with the heavily inked man in tight leather pants.

**!#$%^&**

I had held my breath at the first scent of Bella's blood, the piercing whine of the tattoo gun grating on my eardrums. As he had predicted, less then twenty minutes later, the grinding stopped, and Bella called me in.

"Peter! Stop eye fucking the receptionist and get your ass in here!"

I groaned as Becky grinned, winking salaciously as she shuffled her papers about. She blew me a kiss as I passed her, ducking quickly into the back of the shop, the feeling of her eyes burning holes in my backside.

Bella was standing in the back room, her tattered jeans pooled around her ankles, blue cotton boy shorts gathered into a half-wedgie in the crack of her ass, revealing her fresh brilliant black ink, bright against her pale skin. The tattoo guy, whose door plaque read _Beef_, was preparing bandages with a smirk on his face.

"What do you think, Peter?" Bella asked from over her shoulder, brown eyes shining with laughter. I stared at her ass, my jaw dropping.

"You didn't."

"Oh I did. You like?"

Gaping, I cocked my head at the tattoo, a two-inch black splash stretched across the bottom of Bella's left ass cheek in pretty, cursive writing I knew to be her own. "You...tattooed my name on your ass? Seriously? You tattooed my name on your ass Bella. That's...my name. On your ass. Why did you tattoo my name on your ass? That's...that's gonna be there ...forever."

And there it was for the rest of her days, _Peterpire,_ a little red heart dancing at the end of the nickname. She laughed, bracing herself against the wall as Beef bandaged up her cheek, pulling her panties over the bandage to secure it in place. "Forever and ever."

Beef patted the bandage down, copping an extra feel and Bella hiked her pants up. "Thanks Beef, I left the money with Becky."

Beef just nodded, going about disinfecting his work area. "Make sure you grab a Care and Upkeep pamphlet from the front counter too."

Bella snickered, "Oooh more pamphlets."

**!#$%^&**

We lay in bed that evening, splendidly naked beneath the sheets. Bella was on her belly, nose buried in a book, and I was on my laptop finishing up design schematics for GM. I closed my computer with a click, laying it on the floor carelessly. Bella took no notice, her eyes flashing across the tiny print, turning pages with her thumb.

Grinning, I dragged the sheet from our bodies with my feet, letting them fall to the ground at the foot of our bed. Bella didn't look up, but smiled. "What are you doing Peter?"

Looking over my shoulder and down her body, I grinned. From the way I was laying beside her, only a hint of ink was visible, but it was enough to keep me smiling. "You're such an idiot."

She shrugged, "Eh, but you love me."

And fuck if that didn't make me smile more.

**!#$%^&**

It was one in the morning when I left, tucking Peen into Bella's side, and covering them both up. Peen's head perked up from where he was preparing himself to nest in Bella's hair, his naked head cocked to the side in question.

"Hunting," I replied, and I wondered why that didn't strike me as...odd. But Peen was always good to talk to, and I figured I owed him an answer, question or no question. "Keep our Bella safe for me, Peen."

He buried his head into her mess of curls, giving me a sleepy _'prrrow' _as I shut the door quietly behind me.

I hadn't been hunting as often, for fear of what I might find myself faced with. It was cowardly, and I wouldn't deny it. But my throat ached with a ferocious burn, and Bella's blood hanging in the air since her tattoo really wasn't helping.

South Dakota was home to fifty-four national state parks, and I found myself deep within the thick trees of Black Hills Forest that stretched all the way back to Wyoming.

I drained a small herd of deer, one after the other, laying their still-warm corpses near the river for scavengers. Their blood was bitter, but it warmed me, soothing the burn to a dull ache. I could smell a small pack of wolves nearby, but left them be, noisy grunting cubs trailing in their mothers' wake.

Not wanting to hunt the captive born and bred bears of bear country, I sniffed out a cougar instead; a brutal looking female, her left eye socket mangled and long since empty. She wasted no time for hissing and growling, swiping a heavy paw at me instead. The bones shattered audibly against my solid form. I took her down quickly, never one for tortured prey, and she fell to the ground with an echoing thump. Her blood chased away the taste of deer, leaving me nearly sated and a little sloshy.

Too involved in my hunt, I hadn't heard the sudden silence as it fell upon the forest. Not even the wind swept across the tree branches. I had only just left the body at the mouth of the cave, ready to make my way back to Bella when I heard it.

_'Micha'_

It was ear-splitting, painful, the word slicing into my conscious like a hot knife. The voice could not be comprehended, could not be heard. But I felt it so deeply that it burned every aching inch of my being. I relished it; I welcomed it like a dying man welcomed water. It wasn't Gabriel.

''Dad?"

Oh God.

**A/N: Holy shit on toast Batman. It's God. Anyways, Bella got a tattoo, on her ass, just like on her list of fuckery to do. And she got it of Peter's name, how cute is that? Very. It's so cute, it shits kittens, and those kittens, they shit rainbows. **

Anyways, if you're into Non-Canon stories, and I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say that you are because you're reading this, check out the new blog:

fortheloveofnon-canon(dot)blogspot(dot)com

Those dots? Those are periods, just saying.

Anyways, you can recommend some of your favorite Non-Canon stories, and we will review them! So do it, whore your favorite authors!

Also, and this is important, if you are into RPing, like to fuck around, and want to hang out with some cool chicks, please PM me. We are still looking for all sorts of characters, and totally welcome Original Characters to our cast. You can check it out here...

otherpathrp(dot)ning(dot)com

And I totally play Peter.

-LL


	15. Epiphanypire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 15/?**

**Author: Lifelesslyndsey**

**Category: Twilight**

**Pairing: Bella x Peter**

**Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.**

**Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons**

**Word Count: Just under 2k. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Beta'd by : Me! So forgive me for the mistakes. If you see something blaringly bad, drop me a PM and tell me what and where, and how to fix it and I shall. Please don't do it in the reviews though. **givemesomevamp** did painstakingly correct it for me, but then I went and added a bunch more, so if there are mistakes, they are mine. Not hers. She is awesomeness. **

**A/N **This whole fucking chapter is fluffy angel schmoop. I don't even think I bust jokes. I'll bring the fuckery next chapter I promise.

There is, if you squint and tilt you're head some maybe sort of questionable angelcest. It's very innocent. Some people are just squicky.

There is also some Angel Lore in this chapter, regarding Hayyel, the acclaimed angel of Animals. Surprisingly enough, I do a shit ton of research for this story. The host, in my eyes, is something that can be interpreted. For this story, the Host is more or less Heaven, but in the sense that the Host is the Angelic Collective, it is all of them. Oh, and this chap is pretty short, but I am promising more frequent updates. Mwah!

_**Previously on Once Bitten, Twice Shy**_

_'Micha'_

_It was ear-splitting, painful, the word slicing into my conscious like a hot knife. The voice could not be comprehended, could not be heard. But I felt it so deeply that it burned every aching inch of my being. I relished it; I welcomed it like a dying man welcomed water. It wasn't Gabriel._

_''Dad?"_

_Oh God._

**Now...**.

Thick sticky blood oozed from my ears, slower than a snails pace, painting a slow line of red-back sludge down my face as I came too. It was old blood, venom tainted and curdled, stored in some part of my body I didn't care to consider.

I laid belly-down on the ground, my face pressed against the dirt. I spent far too much time in a state of unconsciousness than any other vampire, I was sure of it. My wings were free, though I couldn't remember releasing them. They curled over my body like a blanket, soft silver-gray feathers catching moonlight like mirrors. I didn't care that they weren't white, they were beautiful.

_God. _

My father.

I had heard him, if only for a moment, but I had heard him and his voice was just...it was fucking music. Trumpets and cherubs, and mother fucking rainbows, it was music. And all he had said was my name. It was enough.

It was boggling to say the least, to feel his presence encompass me so wholly once again. For only a second, a scrap of a second gone before I could register it, I had felt the Host within me. The Heavenly Host, the Heavenly collective that made up my...home. I had felt it, and it had filled me.

It was amazing that I hadn't exploded from the presence of it, momentary as it was. I felt as if I had, as if I _had_ exploded into thousands of tiny pieces, shattered into dust, only to be born again from the dust..._of_ the dust.

I felt reborn.

Sort of.

I was still a vampire.

But _God_, my father, he had done something to me. Whatever it was, it had altered me, changed something with in me. The heavy weight that lived within my chest, something I had come to associate with being a Vampire, seemed lighter, not gone, but less. It was then that I knew what it was...had known for some time, but I had always been one to live behind the curtain of my denial. It was shame, guilt, failure, abandonment, a black swirl of vicious emotion that had been fucking consuming me for years, a century really. He had taken that...taken some of it, soothed the ache that had burst in my belly when I had fallen. I was an angel, I was a vampire. I could be both; that amazed me.

I wasn't a demon...I wasn't dark. There was hope. My throat burned, and my senses were no less keen, but I felt more alive...then I ever had. Bella had done that, I understood it now. Bella had given me my father back.

It was the blood, it had always been the blood. Gabriel hadn't known, but Father had, and he forgave me for killing his Children. He forgave me, for I had repented. Every day my eyes grew more gold, and Bella had done that, she had done that, and I loved her so fucking much, so brutally that it hurt, it fucking hurt so _good_.

It was fucking brilliant.

I looked up into the night sky, and the stars seemed brighter. God...I had missed him more then I had thought...the absence of Him left a viable hole in my charred soul, but knowing that he had found me, had sought me out and spoke my name, it gave me hope. And even though his presence no longer filled me, hadn't in a very long time, I knew he was there now...I knew he was there for me.

I didn't know what it meant, didn't know what any of it meant. But to know that my father still loved me...the feeling was unexplainable. Pulling my wings back, folding them into the confines in a manner that defied the fucking laws of physics, I stood tall. Proud, maybe, I wasn't sure. I raced back to the hotel room, skin tingling. I had to get back to Bella, I didn't want to be any where else. I wanted to share with her this feeling. I wanted to feel her, touching her reminded me that I was real. That this was real, that she was real.

I closed the door behind me with a soft _snick,_ peeling off my shirt, and casting it to the beige motel carpet without a fucking care. I was too damned happy to bother with my laundry list of anal retentive habits. God. _God. _God had found me. It wasn't like Gabriel's presence, that sometimes left me uncomfortable, and wary. I did feel guilty that I didn't wholly trust my brother, but Gabriel was fickle with the truth, and he could twist it to suit and wrap it up so tightly that it didn't look like a lie at all. Angels didn't lie, but Gabriel was a damned crafty bastard.

But God...even after so many years of swelling doubt, I didn't question him. He loved me. That was enough.

I felt compelled to share in the experience, to tell Bella what...no_ who_ I was. If I was an angel, and I really fucking was, then she was _my_ angel, all pale skin and scars and sighs.

I...

I wanted to tell her, to show her, to share with her all the things she had given back to me. All my secrets. I rolled my shoulders once, feeling the skin tingle, stretched taught across my shoulder blades. I opened the heavy maroon drapes, just to let the moonlight shine on her skin. I liked the way her skin glowed, glowed the way I felt. My wings unfurled in a tear of flesh, venom oozing from the wounds, slick against my new feathers, silver on silver. I let them stretch once, before drawing them close to me, their tips brushing the scratchy carpet.

She shifted in her sleep, eyes blinking up at me sleepily, and she smiled, her head falling back against the pillow, lashes fluttering to a close. I had only just opened my mouth to call out to her, to draw her from her dreams, when I felt _him_.

"Gabriel?"

I didn't like him near Bella, but I knew he was here for a reason, and Gabriel's reasons only ever meant one thing.

God.

_'She cannot know, Little Brother.' _He whispered into my ear, the comforting warmth of his hand spreading across my shoulder where I felt him touch me.

"Ever?" I asked softly, mourning. I wanted to tell her, I needed to tell her. No more secrets. No more almost lies. She was as much a part of me as I was myself, and she needed to know. She deserved to know.

Gabriel paused, and I could sense his smile, his grace wrapping around me like a cocoon of warmth. I imagined he was speaking to Father, through the Host, and I waited. '_Not yet, Little Brother.'_

"Why the fuck not?" I breathed, shoulders falling, my wings dropping in defeat. "I do not question the word of God, I only wish to understand." It was too easy to fall into the delicate articulation of the Angels, and I briefly wondered if I was even speaking English at all.

_ 'Enochian,actually. It pleases me that you remember how to speak our ancient Language. ' _Gabriel commented, the smile in his voice still evident. His phantom hand slipped form my shoulder and into my wings, fingers combing through the new feathers_. "They are softer then mine. But you know that, don't you, Little Brother.' _

Bastard. I knew he'd bring it up of course, I wasn't a fool. I felt embarrassment flood me, my wings twitching in his hand, "She didn't know," I defended, my voice reproachful.

He chuckled,ghosting to stand behind me, his invisible fingers dancing across the arched boney spine of my right wing. He slid them down the curved bend, hand skating across the naked flesh of my back and down my spine, sliding through the thickening venom.

_'Of course she didn't,'_ he said with a laugh._ 'She's quite a...playful lover.'_

I sighed, wings retracting slightly, echoing my annoyance "Gabriel..."

He sighed, a ghost of a breath across the nape of my neck, '_Forgive me Little Brother, I am only curious. To touch...be touched in such a manner...it is beautiful. It is love. I find myself wondering how easily I could become envious.'_

I chuckled, "Angels don't covet, Gabriel."

He leaned forward, and I could feel him rest his chin on my shoulder. It surprised me somewhat to find that his presence was shorter than me. An angel on my shoulder, I thought, laughing to myself.

I felt his chin twitched as his mouth no doubt turned up into a smile. '_But if they did...'_

"Tell me why I can't tell her, Gabriel. Please?"

_ 'She isn't ready to know, Micha, one day I think, but not today.' _Garbriel answered, hands sliding around my middle in a backwards hug, offering up what comfort he could. He understood. _'You're cat can see me. Did you know?'_

Peen was watching from the pillow, peering up from his nest in Bella's hair. His eyes were vibrant in the dark, blinking sleepily. He pinned Gabriel, or rather, my left shoulder with a level stare, full his contempt.

"Peen is very perceptive." I informed him, grinning at my hideous cat.

_'Of course he is, he's one of Hayyel's own.' _Gabriel informed me, chuckling lightly. _"He isn't very fond of me, is he?" _

"The Angel of Animals? Peen is an Angelic receptor?" I asked wryly. Though it did make sense. If Peen was my brother Hayyel's creature, he'd have known me for an Angel the moment he saw me. It also explained why I took to him so quickly, and the strange connection we shared. "What a small, small world."

_ 'Hayyel will be pleased, I think.' _

"I miss the brotherhood."

I let my head fall to the side; I could feel him there, my cheek pressed against what I remembered to be curly blonde hair. Jasper sometimes reminded me of Gabriel, when I let myself think of my brothers...the pair of them worlds apart. Gabriel had wide brown eyes...and Jasper had red. But they had the similar smiles, dimples and all. And I loved them both.

I forgot what it felt like, my brothers touch. Angels were tactile creatures, Gabriel especially so. I hadn't really let myself _touch _until Bella and that was vastly different. Gabriel hugged me, all warmth and comfort, and familiarity. part of me recognized the social taboo of such touch, but it was innocent, and we were angels, and I really didn't give a flying fuck. It was nice.

_'She will wake soon,' _Gabriel commented, stepping back. He ran his fingers through my wings once more. His hands paused, and for a moment, I was sure I could see his face, as I looked over my shoulder. _'Don't be angry with me Little Brother. I do only as I am told.'_

I didn't get a chance to ask him what he meant, for he was gone, and Bella was awake again, blinking up at me with a sleepy smile. Panic snapped through me, fearful that I would break the word of my Father by exposing my wings, but they were gone too tucked away and hiding.

"D'you just get back?" She asked, glancing at the alarm clock. It blared in bold red numbers _2:45 PM_, and she sank back against the pillows. "Come to bed with me? I was having the strangest dream before I woke up..."

"What were you dreaming of?" I asked, slipping out of my pants, and into bed beside her. The venom was gone from my back, no doubt wiped away by Gabriel as he left. Peen looked up at me from Bella's pillow, before tucking his head back into the bend of his arm.

Bella rolled to face me, hair falling over her neck and shoulders. She was half asleep already when she answered, "I dreamed you had wings."

**A/N yeah full of fluff and angels. The next chapter however, which is already halfish done, takes place in Minnesota. Peter tries on jeans, and there just might be a mini lemon. In public. We'll see. **


	16. Pantspire

**Once Bitten, Twice Shy Chapter 15/?**

**Author : Lifeless Lyndsey**

**Summary : After a car crash in the middle of nowhere, Bella is faced with yet another force in her life. Left on the ground in the middle of nowhere in the rain, crying after a painful and crushing blow to her life. But this time, she gets up, and meets the man that will change her life.**

**Pairing: Bella and Peter**

**Warning: M for language, God and Angel Porn.**

**Word Count: 2,226**

**Beta: ** kitty cullen-03** washed the grammatical filth that was this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I own nearly nothing , not the characters, not the Bella, not the England. I do however, own the plot. The plot is mine! Mine Dammit!**

**A/N this chapter is my gift to you guys, for being so patient while we wait for the good stuff to happen. And to think, I only made you wait 15 chapters. **

**!#$%^&**

We were in a department store in...Minnesota. I had been coasting on my post-God high for days, and Bella had taken it upon herself to exploit my good-mood.

Apparently, it wasn't just any mall. It was _the _mall.The goddamn mall of America, and Bella said it merited stopping, and I was her little bitch, so stop we did.

"I like my pants," I argued, shoving my hands into the pockets. "They have...deep pockets." It was a weak defense, but truth be told, I wasn't really sure why I was clinging to the goddamn things so fiercely. When I had been a working Angel, in human form, I mostly wore a suit. Business casual just worked for me. It had been working for years.

Bella sighed, sifting through a pile of designer dark washed jeans. Apparently we were_ going to skip 'doing shrooms' today, and skip right to ticking off _'spend an ass load of money' from the list.

And apparently we were spending it on me.

It was...annoying.

She grabbed a pair from the stack, pulling them free with a flourish and shoving them in my hand. "Peter, I'm sure your polyester paralegal pants are great, and you can keep lots of things in the deep pockets. But the only thing you're keeping in those pockets besides your hands is your virginity. Peter, jeans are your friend. We'll even swing for some silk panties, keep you from chaffing." She threw me a wink, and pushed me forward towards the dressing rooms, slapping me on the ass and shutting the door behind me.

"I hate you." I grumbled, peeling of my slacks and folding them neatly on the bench. The jeans...weren't awful, but Bella had picked a too-small pair, and my junk had some serious protest with this. The seam was pressing hard into my sack, and I could feel the zipper on the underside of my dick. Pushing it to the left, to lay across my thigh; I sighed. "They're too small."

"No they're not," she replied quickly, "Now, come out."

"No. They are too small. You can see everything. My dicks just...all out in the open. I hate it. They're too tight." I whined, shifting my dick through the denim. The seam rubbed along my ball sack again and I winced.

I saw her feet shift beneath the door, and suddenly found myself being smacked in the face with...blue silk boxers.

"I'm not trying on underwear. You...you just don't do that. It's wrong, or immoral or something. Unethical. Unsanitary. Un...something."

"It's not like you're going to get ball sweat on them." She huffed. "Look, I know you're going to love them, so just tear the tags off and we'll pay for them at the counter. So put them on, Peter, and come out here, please." She paused, and I should have seen it coming as she lined herself up for the kill shot, "For _me_?"

"I hate you."

"No you don't, now get your vamp ass in em' so I can gloat." She said with a laugh, and I did as she asked, pulling off the stiff jeans to slip on the boxers.

"Holy shit." I stared down at my now silk-covered crotch in awe. The silk? Yeah. Fucking awesome. They hugged my cock like a long lost friend. Bella could gloat all she fucking wanted too. Silk was awesome.

She laughed, "Yeah, see I totally know what I am talking about. Now slip on the jeans and come out here so I can ogle your ass."

I stepped out of the dressing room fully attired and willing to concede that the boxers were awesome and the jeans were okay. She sighed, shoulders falling comically. Bella took me by the hand leading me to the raised platform, surrounded by a half circle of mirrors.

"You're not supposed to tuck in the shirt. You look like a band geek. A sexy hot band geek, but that's not the point. Only band geeks and IT people tuck dress shirts into jeans." Bella stepped forward, pressing against my back and unceremoniously shoving her hands into my pants, to pull my shirt loose.

There was no way on Gods green, over-populated, populated earth I was going to admit that the proceeding erection was in any way, shape or form, my fault.

She was the one who shoved her hands in my pants.

And there it was in three point eight seconds, my freakishly hard dick, clearly visible in the tight jeans, reflected in eight fucking mirrors. I could feel Bella's mouth curl up into a smile as she pressed her face into my back, and damn that felt good. I could feel my wings shudder beneath the skin as Bella's hand slid slowly out of my pants, her palms hot against my stomach.

The words fell out of my mouth faster than I could fathom. I was fairly sure that I had said them before I had even thought them, but the point was, I had said them. They had been said.

"Dressing room. Now."

She had my hand in hers, tugging me along before I could register that I had just propositioned Bella in public. And that she was down for it. As if she wouldn't be.

It was Bella we were talking about.

I let her man handle me, bending to her every push and pull, till I found myself behind the dressing rooms locked doors, seated and mounted. Bella's mouth was on mine, hot fingers scrambling at my buttons. She toes off her ballet flats against my shins, knees hugging my thighs tightly. Her urgency was contagious, and I had to fight myself not to rip her shirt of her body, tugging up at the hem instead till she raised her arms. Her bra was the same midnight blue as the damned silk boxers. She reached around; one hand unclasping it as I slid it from her arms, dropping it to the floor.

It was frantic, the keen awareness that we could be caught, caught up in the electricity that always seemed to crackle between us. We grasped at each other, always touching like it was the first time and the last, like we hadn't just gotten off on our mouths and tongues and fingers hours before. She ground down on me, hips moving in torturous pulsing circles. The silk was maddening, combined with the heat of her body. My cock was still caught on my thigh, wrapped in sweet, delicious friction; I couldn't help but buck upwards as she pushed down.

It was a parody of sex, but damn it felt good. I wanted…fuck, I wasn't sure what I wanted, but the pressure and the heat it was too much and not enough. I could feel the dampness of her jeans against my own, and I felt myself shudder, hands grappling to pull her close. I couldn't touch enough of her, couldn't reach enough of her when it felt like she was tearing through my skin and crawling up into my soul, where all her kisses felt hotter, and her touch ripped through me like the sweetest kind of pain.

Bella pushed at the arms of my button-up, shoving it hastily from my shoulders. I worked a frantic hand between us, yanking the button and zipper loose and pulling my cock free of the silky confines of the boxers. I groaned at the sheer, instantaneous relief. Bella slid from my lap, half way to sinking to her knees, when I caught her at the hip, hands sliding around to cup her ass.

Oh fuck, I wanted...

_Wanted._

Never one for prolonged eye contact, I looked away as I slid the zipper of her worn-in jeans down, the sound screaming in my ears. Her hand was warm, wrapped around my wrist like a question mark at the end of a question that wasn't asked out loud.

"I...want this."

She licked her lips, the death grip on my wrist loosening fractionally, "Not here, Peter. Your first time should be special...not in a dressing room at Macy's."

"You're special enough," I replied quietly, thumbs hooking her belt loops. Her jeans fell, collecting around her knees, as I hooked my finger in her panties. I looked past her, to catch our reflection in the adjacent mirror, the smooth expanse of her back, peppered with freckles and a faint pink line from her bra. I could see the outline of the tattoo beneath the thin material of her underwear, and moved my hand around her waist to smooth my fingers across the fresh, tender ink. I pulled her panties down too, casting her a cautious glance up through my lashes.

"Peter...we're in a dressing room, at Macy's." She repeated, slowly, but she was moving forward, freeing one foot, then the other, from her jeans.

I pulled her forward, collapsing her into my lap. She pulled herself up, resting her weight on her knees. I looked up at her, my eyes burning a path between her breasts and up her neck, settling on her mouth. "It could be Wal-mart."

She snorted, raising her hand from my shoulder to push through my hair, tugging playfully at my messy fringe. "It would have sentimental value, if it were Wal-Mart. We met in a Wal-mart."

I couldn't help it, I felt sort of drunk. Leaning forward I kissed her stomach, smiling. "Love Wal-mart, then. Love you."

Tugging at the hair at the back of my head, she pulled me backwards, forcing me to look up at her. The florescent lighting glowed yellow around her hair, a mockery of a halo. Her skin looked bright, all pale white with a spider web of cerulean blue veins that beat beneath the surface. Her hair was loose, falling around her face, down her shoulders and her back. She licked her lips again and smiled.

"You really want this?"

Tugging her forward, my cock caught between her bare stomach and my white cotton undershirt, I kissed her mouth. I couldn't assure her with words, nothing would be enough for my insistent girl, so I conveyed what I could in the kiss, hands settling on her hips. "Want you, want this." I was...I was panting, light headed and so turned on it bordered on the edge of pain. "Never wanted anything...till I found you."

She looked...wary at best, but her cheeks were flushed and her body answered for her, pressing forward against me. Impatient hands with minds of their own grasped at her hips, shifting us into place. I lifted her up, and our bodies did the rest. I could feel the head of my cock press against...her, and it was enough to send my world spinning. She was wet, and hot, and I ached...

_"Peter."_

It was a plea, and a warning, and a question all wrapped up in two syllables that made up my name. Her breath stuttered against me as I pulled her down onto me, sliding home in the slick, hot heat. My head fell forward against her chest with a whiney little growl, because_ god, god, god, god, god, god. _

Gabriel could laugh at the Sigmund Freud of that little internal outburst later. It was probably weird, yeah, and I couldn't fucking help it. Bella slung around the G-bomb like no one's business and I'd picked up the habit. Even so, I'd thank my dad in person for sex later too. I was that grateful of a son.

Bella blew out a hard, shaky breath, reminding me that I was in the middle of something sort of important, and now was not the time for introspective navel gazing. "Oh _fuuuuck_. You're like...huge. I...I've been meaning to tell you that...just...normally my mouth is full. Of your cock...uh...Jesus Christ, Peter _move move move move_."

I jerked up, causing her to gasp and me to growl. I was balls deep, and she was so tightly wrapped around me I was sure I was going to come already. Sensing my unwillingness to surrender to orgasm already, Bella grunted, bracing her knees on the bench beneath me, and rising up, only to slam back down with ninety-something pounds of force.

"_Bella,_" I rasped, toes curling in my shoes, "I...I don't want to come yet."

"I do."She breathed, quietly, her fingers biting into my shoulder as she braced herself further, pushing upwards, and bringing herself down with a little grunt, panting hard as our stomachs slid together. "I do. I do, I want to come. Oh fuck, oh fuck."

She was keeping so damn quiet, but God, I couldn't, I couldn't stop myself from gasping, grunting, growling, as she rolled her hips. I grabbed her again, working her faster then she could manage on her own, fucking her down on my cock, harder, and faster, and she just took it, crying for more.

"Oh, oh, just...faster, Peter, faster, please." She bit into her lip, leaving little blue and purple bruised indentations, head falling back, "Oh, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me."

And I did, her head bobbing on her shoulders as I worked her little body up and down my cock. I could see over her shoulder, the smooth line of her back, my name tattooed across her back. She snaked a hand between us, pressing forward, to expose so much more of her. I felt my cock twitch inside of her. I could see my dick, her perfect, pink pussy lips wrapping around me as I fucked in and out of her.

When she came, I came, vision blurring white, and I had to bite into my own hand to keep from biting into her as every single primal urge slammed into me. My wings itched, pressing insistently inside me, and I only just kept them still, distracted by a knock at the door.

Bella fell forward against me, throat working hard, "Just...Just a minute." She managed to say, throwing on her most polite voice. She turned to me with an apologetic grimace, and the dismount of my cock was anything but smooth. My stomach lurched as we scrambled for our clothing. Bella had yanked up her jeans, shoved her panties in her pocket, and managed to get both her shirt and bra on by the time I'd pulled myself together enough to button up my jeans and shirt.

"Just...Don't say anything, and look stupid and confused." Smoothing down her hair, Bella pulled open the door, leaning me gently by the hand. "Sorry ma'am..."

A store clerk stood on the other side, her white blouse tucked neatly into her pencil skirt, hair in perfect order. Her eyes widened, mouth gaping as she blushed, "Oh...oh my. Well...I heard...growling. We...we were concerned..."

Bella just smiled politely, "Again, I really am very sorry. My brother, he's..." she leaned in slowly towards the woman, her voice lowering to a whisper, "he's special."

"Special?" The woman blinked, "Oh, oh. Okay. Yes, yes of course. Can we...help you with anything?"

Bella shook her head, turning to take both my hands into hers. "Oh no, but thank you. I apologize for the noise. I was assisting him in dressing and he can...be difficult at times. Loves his independence." Bella chuckled, patting my poorly buttoned shirt, "He's not so good with buttons and Peter sometimes gets it into his head that he's an animal when he gets frustrated. His bear impression is quite good."

"Yes," The lady blinked, "yes, very good indeed."

**!#$%^&**

Round two later that evening back at the hotel room was far better, for it was followed up by post-coital Bella cuddles.

Though I did lock Peen in the bathroom.

**A/N This whole chapter is a lemon. Now, I know a lot of you think that Peter's first time should have been more special, but I think it was. It was them, and that was enough. But Bella did fuck him and call him a retard. *sigh* Oh, Bella. **


	17. Panicpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 17/?**

**Author: Lifelesslyndsey**

**Category: Twilight**

**Pairing: Bella x Peter**

**Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.**

**Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons**

**Word Count: 2,601**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and yet all the characters do what I want. I do own Gabriel, though. That little fucker is mine. As is Cat. Mine. Mine. Mine.**

**HOT FOR BETA! This chapter was beta'd for you by: VampishVixen who taught me how to use semi-colons. Maybe one day I'll stop ending all my dialogue in periods instead of commas. "Maybe not," she said. (Beta-note: *snort*)**

**A/N: So. I'm epically proud of this fic so far. You and I, my dear readers, are about to reach 1000 reviews. And this story isn't even finished! I am so happy! You guys have done so much, always supporting me and my crazy Angel!Petershennanigans. You've stuck by me though all the weird, waited 16 chapters for a real lemon, dealt with Peter being awkward, and Bella being blunt. You didn't kill me for my April Fools Day Joke. You have speculated, pestered, harassed, begged, and cheered me on. **

**So, in honor of 1000 reviews, I promise to bring you something so totally epic. I am serious. Totally. Fucking. Epic. You will have not seen it coming. And I will bring it to you in the next chapter, even though it's not intended until chapter 20. So, if you can get me to 1000, you get awesome-sauce. If you can't, you still get the awesome-sauce, but you'll have to wait. **

**Previously on Once Bitten, Twice Shy...**

_Bella just smiled politely, "Again, I really am very sorry. My brother, he's..." she leaned in slowly towards the woman, her voice lowering to a whisper, "he's special."_

_"Special?" The woman blinked, "Oh, oh. Okay. Yes, yes of course. Can we...help you with anything?"_

_Bella shook her head, turning to take both my hands into hers. "Oh no, but thank you. I apologize for the noise. I was assisting him in dressing and he can...be difficult at times. Loves his independence." Bella chuckled, patting my poorly buttoned shirt, "He's not so good with buttons and Peter sometimes gets it into his head that he's an animal when he gets frustrated. His bear impression is quite good."_

_"Yes," The lady blinked, "yes, very good indeed."_

_**Currently On OBTS...**_

"I want to climb on it."

"Sign says not to."

"Sign also says it's closed."

"Yeah but..."

She sighed, shoulders slumping in a manner that always signified she was about to whine her way into getting what she wanted. "Peter! Just help me up. I want to climb on it. I want our picture to be from the top of the..." She glanced at the sign again. "Is this the worlds biggest? Yeah, worlds biggest ball of twine...wait a minute. What's up with the fine printage?" She squinted in the darkness, unable to read the smaller print at the bottom of the sign.

"Largest ball of twine rolled by one man." I recited, sighing. We were in the middle of Darwin, Minnesota, in the middle of the night because it had been exceptionally sunny that day, and we'd spent a majority of the morning exploring several new avenues of our new found sexual relationship.

Bella was really bendy.

She scoffed, "I feel gypped. Where is the largest ball of twine? Not that I want to see it, if you've seen one giant ball of twine, you've seen them all. But really? What is this shit? One man. You know what? Fuck him," she said. "I'm going to fuck his shit all up."

"Bella, no vandalizing odd road side attractions," I said with a sigh, standing guard at the opening of The Ball's protective tent.

She dropped to a crouch, squatting near the edge of the little cement platform The Ball was on and then popped her purse open, vacant of cat for once, rummaging through its dark, unknown depths. "I know it's in here. Aha! Okay, I got it. Help me up," she said, rising to a stand, and brushing her palms on the front of her jeans.

"Got what?" I asked, hooking my arm around her waist, and hoisting us both up the ball of twine. There wasn't much room between the ceiling of the tent and the ball of twine, forcing us to lay across it, flat on our bellies. Bella pressed herself against my side, toes digging into the twine to steady herself."Got what, Bella?" I asked again, keep an arm around her. I didn't need her rolling off and busting her skull on the Worlds Biggest Ball of Twine Rolled By One Man.

"This," she said quietly with a grin, uncoiling a tiny ball of twine from her purse. It was no bigger then a gum ball, but what it was doing in her purse was a mystery. "Cut a bit off for me, please?"

"You had that in your purse? Why?" I asked, tearing a three inch piece from the little ball, and handing it to her. She weaved it beneath a strand in the large ball, tying it off into a neat ball.

"I bought it for cat to play with. God this beast smells awful. There," she patted her little bow. "Now it's the largest ball of twine rolled by two people."

Reaching for my back pocket, I freed the pamphlet I had lifted from the little box nailed to the sign, unfolding it across the giant nasty ball of twine. It really did smell awful. "You just robbed..." I scanned the glossy page for a name quickly, "...Francis A. Johnson, of his legacy you know?"

"No one will ever know," she whispered with a grin, "Except you and I. Hey, take our picture. You have the camera right?"

Carefully fishing her camera out of my pocket, we crushed ourselves together in the cramped space, cheeks pressed against each other, as we were both momentarily blinded by the camera's flash. Blinking the brilliant white light from her eyes, Bella grinned, "One for the photo album. I think I'll send it to Jacob too. He loves vandalism. Hey, is this vandalism? I mean, technically I just destroyed a town idol-thing or something."

"You crushed their only claim to fame, Bella. Yeah, it can be vandalism."

She snorted out a little laugh, sending loose curls fluttering against her face, "Cool. I'm a hoodlum. Cut this please," she asked again, measuring off another piece of twine.

I snapped the twine, handing it back. She plucked an old piece of twine from Francis's life work, braiding it carefully with her own, before looping it and tying it off with a grin. "Here you go, Peter. Best friends for life." Taking her hand in mine, she slipped the ring on my fingers, smoothing her thumb over the coarse twine. "That's a very long time for you."

Something painful and cold slammed into my chest. "But not for you?"

**!#$%^&**

Bella fell asleep on the twine ball without ever answering me, and I carried her back to the truck. We were already packed up, ready to leave Minnesota behind us when we stopped here. I had half a mind to leave her in the truck and go seek out my brother for...something. Probably just the comfort. Bella had just blindsided me with future speak.

It didn't matter which way I spun it. I couldn't see myself without her.

In the end I opted to drive, choosing no set course, just driving where the road took me. Bella was out, flopped across the back bench seat. It was four in the morning when Peen stirred, jumping into the front seat, and making his way across the center console, into my lap. We were just breaking into Wisconsin, the digital clock on the dash reading _3:17 am_.

Moving one hand from the steering wheel, I scratched Peens wrinkly head. "Hey buddy," I said so quietly, I was sure only his cat ears would detect it. "So, you're angel-spawn, eh? I should have known. None of the other cats are as perceptive of you."

"_Meow_," was his sleepy reply, drawn out and rumbly against my leg. His nose butted my thigh, as his paws kneaded into my jeans.

"Watch the equipment, Cat," I warned half heartedly, "So you knew what I was from the get go, eh? You knew I wasn't just some sort of predator?"

"_Prrrow_."

I sighed, choosing a random exit to take, slowing as we took the curve onto the interstate. "It certainly explains why I couldn't leave you. You've done me good, I'm glad I brought you home. I don't know what to do, Peen. I don't...I hadn't thought about it. I've never had to consider the future, why bother when it never fucking ends? I...I hadn't thought about Bella's. Her time is limited...but it doesn't have to be. I could..."

_ "Mew?_"

"That was always the worse part, you know?" I said absently, as the interstate dragged on, practically abandoned and lined with towering pine trees. "Damning others. It was always the worse part of Maria's army. The feeding...it was almost easier. Because at least they weren't suffering, at least I wasn't creating more monsters like myself. I hated it, I hated turning others, and I swore up and down that after Jasper let me leave, I would never change another person, and I haven't. But I would. For her."

_"Mrrrow." _

"What does that say about me, Peen? How can I say that, how can I mean that knowing what I know? I know Heaven is real, I know God is real; I know that Bella can have Heaven. But I would take that away from her. I'm a selfish fucking bastard. I don't want to tell her I'm an Angel any more Peen. I don't want her to believe in God, or Heaven, or anything. I want her to believe in me, and let me change her, and I am a _bastard_!"

Peens nails sank into my jeans sharply as I jerked the wheel, slamming to a shuddering stop on the side of the road. _"Hssssss!" _he spat, clinging to the denim for his dear, cat life.

"I don't want her to get old and die. I...I want her to stay here with me. What if she doesn't want that? What if...fuck. Fuck. I can't...I can't...why did I let myself get attached? Why did I follow her? What am I doing here? In Wisconsin? I...I can't do this to her. I can't ask her to...live forever, for me. I can't take away Heaven. What if...what if I ask, and she says yes? What if I change her Peen? What...I'd do it. I would. I wouldn't even have to think about it. What happened to me?"

_ 'Micah.'_

I melted into the seat, flushed with the calming presence of my brother. "Gabriel," I breathed, head hanging on my shoulders.

"Micah."

The sudden sound startled me, a voice I hadn't heard outside my head in what felt like a millennia. My head snapped to the passenger seat and _God_, he looked exactly like I remembered him. "Oh shit Bella-"

Gabriel brown eyes littered to the back seat, a soft smile gracing his face, "She won't wake, I assure you."

A new wave of relief flooded me, and I let my head fall back against head rest. "It's good to see you at last, Gabriel."

"Will you tell me what is wrong, Little Brother? God Himself suggested I pay you a visit, and that I mind the girl."

"God sent you to me?" I asked sharply, sitting up to look at Gabriel properly. My hands cupped Peen carefully, keeping him safe from toppling off my lap. "I...was having a moment."

"You were nearing a nervous break down," Gabriel noted wryly. "Tell me what is wrong."

"I want to change Bella." I said bluntly, ignoring the sudden flash of pain and pity in my brother's eyes. "I shouldn't want that, but I do. And I will, if she asks. What does that mean of me?"

Sighing heavily, Gabriel fell against the passenger seat. I briefly wondered how his wings fit in the truck, and how I could see them fit in the truck. But wings were fickle things, existing on an entirely different plane of existence, and did not care to follow the laws of physics. They fit because they fit, I wouldn't question it.

"You love her enough to sacrifice yourself," Gabriel said at length, "and all that you are. You love her enough to damn her; to damn yourself. Love, while being the most precious gift once can give, it can also be the most selfish. The knife is double-edged my friend, and you walk that fine line. Woe it is to be a human, and to love like one."

"I'm not a human," I muttered bitterly. Turning in my seat, hands still cupping Peen, I watched Bella's chest rise and fall steadily. The air around her tingled with grace, and I realized she wasn't so much sleeping, as she was under the grace of my brother. Like Angel anesthesia. "Could I open my wings like yours in here? Or are mine still totally tangible? I'm not going to, I'm just asking."

Gabriel chuckled, shaking out his short blonde curls. His androgynous features were no less sharp than I remembered, but his face still seemed foreign to me. I imagined it was because my own face no longer walked the line between genders. "They will fit no matter where you open them. Car. Closet. Dressing room at Macy's." Gabriel smirk could have made me blush, had I had the blood to do so. Fucker. "They've been returned to their original state since their rebirth. The color...we're not sure why they are gray, Brother."

"I don't mind," I replied easily, rubbing my back against the seat. I could feel them more than ever lately, pressing against the surface of my skin. "I like them."

"Your wings, they have been causing you discomfort?" he asked with concern, pressing the heel of his hand hard between my shoulder blades. The tightly wound tension I had felt for the last few days eased somewhat beneath his touch.

"A little bit, yeah," I admitted. "It feels...tight. Too much pressure?"

"Your wings are not used to being confined. I imagine it feels something like an arm in a cast. They cannot breathe. You should free them more often." Gabriel explained with a curious look on his face. "I wonder if you can fly."

"I'd rather not try, lest I cannot. I won't be cliff diving any time soon, that's for sure." I commented dryly, stroking the bridge of Peens nose. He purred happily, tiny body vibrating in my hands.

I watched the storm fall upon my brother expression, dark and dreary. "She attempted to take her life, Micah. She is very lucky she was unsuccessful."

"I...I know that. But she's better now. She's happy now. She's happy with me," I insisted, the shiver of defense dancing up my spine. Gabriel smiled again, but his eyes were no less hard.

"She befriended you with the hopes that you would kill her. Though I no longer believe this to be her intention, she wished death upon herself at the hand of yours." He sighed, pushing up the center console, and reaching his hand to take my own. "This is no reason for you to doubt her love for you, Micah. You saved this girl. You saved her life. You altered her fate in a way that we cannot fathom, for we cannot see it as long as you are a part of it. But I have spoken with Azrael, and Bella was already intended for death."

"When?"

"Three months ago, after a doctor's appointment. She blew a flat on her way home. Raped and murdered, abandoned in the outcropping of woods. Azrael said her name disappeared from his list, only to re-appear shortly after. Again, in an indoor-shooting range, she was to be shot in the femoral artery, and bleed out slowly. Jimmy would have shot himself from the guilt." When I opened my mouth to speak, he silenced me with a finger to my lips. "Again, alone in her house, when her toaster short circuited, causing a house fire. But she didn't make breakfast that morning, because she had been up all night after setting fire to a house, and caring for a sick vampire. Again, in her home when her house was flooded, electrocution by alarm clock. She hadn't known about the flood, didn't know to prepare. But she wasn't home that evening, she was with you, at your house. Micah...your presence has prevented her death several times, but it will not always. She will die, as humans do."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You Will Not Change Her."

Pain like a fist to the belly struck me hard, the inflection of his tone making it clear that this was not a suggestion but a Command.

From God.

"Gabriel..."

He sighed, "It is not for us to discuss Little Brother. We do not question the word of God. You will not change her."

I bit my lip, staring out the window into the night. "And if I do anyways? If I go against our Father? What then?"

"Micah..."

"What then, Gabriel!"

He swallowed hard, grabbing my hand and yanking me closer to him in the tiny cab of my truck until I was blanketed in his wings and arms. It was awkward, and probably uncomfortable, but I could feel his tension pulsing hot in the air, as he clung to me, whispering in my ear.

"You can never come back."

**A/N: And there it is, my friends, the ultimatum. God, or Bella. Dun...dun...dun...**


	18. Pukepire

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 18/?

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 4,000

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Beta: The darling VampishVixen who lets me whore around and come crawling back to her.

My mind was still reeling from Gabriel's confession when I pulled into a cheap roadside hotel in Wisconsin. It was nightfall and Bella was still asleep, leaving me too much time to think. The finality of the words burned in my mind. '_You can never go back.' _

That _asshole. _

The implications of his parting words left a sick, heavy feeling of hope weighing in my heart like a sinking stone. _Hope. _ I knew better; with Gabriel, words were tricky. He had said that my turning Bella would exile me from the Host forever, but he hadn't said that _not_ turning her would grant me welcome. I couldn't be sure I'd ever see Heaven, and that was faith, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I felt forced to believe, forced to hope.

I felt tested.

I didn't like it.

I paid for the room, carrying Bella's dead-to-the-world body into our suite. She nuzzled up against my neck once before curling herself into a messy nest. Prying her hands from the heavy comforter, I set to undressing her. "Fuck, Bella, you're drenched."

Her jeans and faded t-shirt were damp with sweat, hair sticking to her forehead. She looked pale, and tired, hours on the road catching up with her, and for a moment I hated that she was human, weak and frail. And one step closer to death every fucking day, just like every other human on the planet.

Peeling away her sweat-soaked clothing, I tucked her beneath the thin cotton sheet. She didn't even stir as I curled her body into mine; warm, salty skin against my own cool flesh. With her face pressed into my collar bone, steady warm breaths washing over my neck, she slept, and I...I tried not to fucking _think._

**!#$%^&***

"You look good from this angle," Bella said, her voice thick and sleepy. She looked up at me from her pillow, hair splayed out across the pale blue cotton. "What are you doing, Flyerpire?"

"Flyerpire, really?" I asked wryly, because if she only fucking knew. "I'm thinking."

"Don't strain your brain, Peterpire," Bella replied, propping herself up on her elbows, "It's been a while since I found you on the ceiling. You're not freaking out over something are you, because normally when you're on the ceiling, you're freaking out. What's up?"

"Not freaking out," I assured her, and that much was true. I'd freaked out during the night, and had sufficiently calmed and placated myself into relative sanity before the sun had risen. "Just thinking. Hey, I can see down your shirt," I teased

She looked down, pulling out the front of her tank-top with a grin. "Me too," she said releasing it with a gentle snap. "Why don't you come down here, and we can hop in the shower together?"

I flipped forward on the bed, falling onto the mattress with a crouch, causing Bella to bounce upward. "Last one naked gives me a blow job."

"But if I won, you'd have to suck yourself," Bella replied logically, grabbing the hem of her tank. My shirt was already on the floor, and I was halfway to the bathroom. "Can you do that?"

"You're assuming I'm gonna lose Bella," I laughed, throwing my new jeans at her. They hit her in the face lightly, falling to the bed to reveal a very curious if not dumbstruck expression.

"..."

"Bella?"

"Can you do that Peter?"

"Do what?" I asked deviously, perking my head out the bathroom doorway. "Suck myself? Well...I was alone for a very long time Bella..."

"Peter!"

**!#$%^&**

"This shit is freaky," Bella stated with a shiver, staring down at the wax upper-torso of a man being eaten alive by rats. It was evening, menacing autumn clouds rolling over the Wisconsin sky. Bella had grabbed the first pamphlet she could from the motel office, featuring three glossy folds of battered looking skeletons, and twisted metal contraptions.

Looking up at the wooden sign above the half buried man in the glass case, I read from its shoddy, hand-painted Times New Roman print: "_The Museum of Historic Torture Devices, Exhibit A, Death by Rats._"

"At least the music's good," Bella said, frowning at a shelf full of rusty, ancient thumb screws. "I could listen to Pink Floyd every day, and it does sort of set the creeper mood."

Opening the pamphlet, I smiled as Bella grimaced at the splattered fake blood speckling a flimsy looking guillotine made out of scrapped particle board. "_Over forty horrible contraptions can be found at The Museum of Historic Torture Devices, including but not limited to the Rack, a Breaking Wheel, a Chinese Death Cage, and a Skull Crusher. There is nothing more frightening in human history..._"

Though the displays left something to be desired, I was impressed by the historical accuracy of the information provided. It was sort of depressing to follow a time line of Human acts of Monstrosity, having been around for all of them. Humans sort of fucking sucked. Half the shit on display had been done in the Name of God, and I couldn't help but pity the fuckers who just didn't get it.

You didn't disembowel a living man of his guts with a fish hook up his asshole in the name of God. It was kind of bad form. It made me appreciate people like Bella, who instead lived_ freely _in the name of God. Though often ethically questionable, it seemed a lot nobler than massacring hoards of innocents. And it made me love her more.

"Let's get a picture with that wax guy with his guts hanging out of his mouth and get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps," Bella said, wrinkling up her nose. She flashed a smile and a thumbs-up, as we squished ourselves together for the Wisconsin photo-op.

Stopping short as we were leaving, I grinned at the little row of glass-front quarter machines, fishing through my pocket for some spare change. Shoving a fresh quarter in the third machine, I turned the crank, grabbing the plastic lidded ball from the shoot and tossing it to Bella. "Best friends for life, right?"

Bella popped the lid off, revealing a bubble gum pink skull ring. "Oooh neat!" She squealed, sliding it onto her slender fingers. "Knuckle bump!" She raised her closed fist and I obliged. "This is very Captain Planet," she noted with a grin.

"What can I say? He's my hero."

**~!#$%^&***

"You okay, Peter?" Bella asked, dropping her cheap plastic toothbrush into the cup. Her eyes met mine in the water-spotted hotel mirror, brown against fresh amber. She assured me the gold would come with time, but already I could go without contacts. "You've seemed awfully quiet. I...do you want to go home or something? Because we totally can. Just say the word, and it's back to Washington, okay?"

"Post-Orgasm Silence, remember? Nothing I say can be held accountable, so nothing I don't say can either. This is perfectly sound logic." I smiled at that, remembering Bella's words. "But really, Bella? I'm always home when I'm with you."

Returning my smile with her own fresh and minty one, she turned, reaching out to hook her pinky in mine. "Then what's up, Direpire? You're positively depressed lately. Believe me, I know these things. The ceiling thing? And at the museum? All doom and gloom among the animated corpses and shiny buttons?"

"I'm just thinking, lately. You know... spend a century misanthropic and introverted, and you can't help but navel-gaze every once in a while. Maybe I'm wondering what I ever could have done to find someone like you." Scooping her up against me, I sighed, tucking her head beneath my chin. "When is your birthday, Bella?"

"Um...September 13th, why do you ask?" she asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her hair awkwardly. Her arms were trapped between us, hands resting against my chest. "Peter..."

My smile was really anything but, and I sighed, letting my head fall back against the door I leaned on. "Ironic. I was changed on September 13th, you know? In 1851. I died that day...I was reborn that day."

The little wrinkle of thought formed between her brows, and I could tell she didn't like my train of thought. "Then...we share a birthday. It's next month you know. How old will that make you Grandpire?" she teased weakly.

"One hundred and fifty-nine," I replied quietly. "And you? How old will you be?"

"Peter, what is this about?" Bella asked, pulling out of my arms, and dropping all playful pretenses.

"I'm never going to die, Bella," I replied calmly, staring down at my socks. "I'm going to live forever, and you-"

She kissed me hard, before I could finish, before I could ask, or speak or say. Pulling back, Bella looked up at me, eyes wet with tears. "I'm going to love you forever Peter."

It didn't make me feel better.

**!#$^&***

"Oh God don't stop. _Fuck_ me, yeah right there. Oh fuck, fuck, Peter! Harder! You're not gonna break me, _ooooh_ so good. So...fucking...good. Right there, yes! _Yes!_ Fuck you're good at that," Bella groaned, her fingers stilling on her laptop as I pressed my thumbs into the arches of her feet. Her head fell against the head board with a _thunk_. "Sweet baby Jeebus, do the toes next."

The sun was shining brightly through the gauzy curtains of the motel we'd picked in Wisconsin, casting hazy rainbows of my skin. Peen, after much persuasion and bacon, forgave me for locking him away in the bathroom when Bella and I ...did things that angel cats shouldn't see. If I ignored the general fucking sense of desperation and unease growing like mold in my stomach, things were pretty good.

So I did just that. If I was nothing, I was really good at avoidance.

I laughed, pulling both of Bella's feet into my lap. "Whatcha doing?" I asked, nodding my head at the laptop nestled into her lap.

"Maximizing on this hotel's free Wi-fi," Bella replied, wiggling her toes, demanding attention. I pinched her pinky toe and she smiled, fingers moving slowly across the keyboard. "Jake sent me some stuff from Kelly to sign off on. Uh...they're...well, they're turning my book into a movie."

She blushed somewhat, ducking her face, and I grinned, "Bella that's fucking awesome! Do you get to pick the cast? I mean, who would you have play you? Or the chick in your story that isn't fashioned from you what so ever."

Bella replied with an inelegant snort."They cast Emily Browning, which is cool because she has a fuck-hot mouth. And Tom Sturrage is playing the not-Edward. He's got the attractive fuck-face look going on. He also looks like he's ripped his dick off and shoved it up his own ass, so he was a shoo-in for Edward."

"When are they going to start filming?" I asked, working my hands up her calves in firm circles. "Do they have a release date? Do you need to get back there or anything?"

"Ah, no. Kelly knows that I don't want the publicity. It's already filming, and should be out June of next year, I guess," she explained, clicking away.

"Yeah? Well...fuck Bella, we should celebrate, or something. We could go out, you know, if you wanted to," I offered. I didn't really want to go out, but I'd do it if she wanted to. I was happy for her.

She grinned, "How about we stay in?"

"Ooh even better." I agreed at once, working my hands further up her pajama pants.

**!#$%^&***

Later that evening, just as the sun had set, I learned that Bella's attention could not be held by the Cheese state, and she was completely ready to skip Wisconsin entirely.

"I...I want to go to Michigan," Bella announced, looking a little nervous, as if I might actually tell her fucking no. "I...there's something there I want to see."

And that intrigued me. Up until this moment, Bella hadn't really given our destination thought. But if she wanted to go to Michigan, we'd go to Michigan. If she wanted to drive three thousand miles back to Washington because she forgot her cell phone, I'd fucking do it.

"Sure," I said with a shrug. We were just leaving Dell, pulling onto south I-39 when she'd made her announcement. "We can head south and cut through Ohio or we can go north and drive through the Upper Peninsula."

She stared down at the tattered over-folded map in her lap, forefinger tracing absent lines across her bottom lip as she thought. "Um...we could like...take a ferry across Lake Michigan? They have Car Ferries from Milwaukee to Muskegon. It takes about two hours to cross the bay. The place I want to go is um...it's about half an hour from there. I looked it up; they have night-ferries, apparently. It's probably stupidly expensive, but we'd get there a hell of a lot faster."

"Yeah? We can do that. We're not far off from Milwaukee, like forty-five minutes if I go the speed limit, which means it will probably only take twenty. There should be an exit coming up." I pulled the car to the right lane of the interstate, watching the road signs for the Milwaukee exit. "What's in Michigan?"

Bella bit her lip, wiping her palms across her thighs. "It's a surprise."

**!#$%^&***

Bella slept the rest of the way to Milwaukee, curled up in the passenger seat, clutching Peen in her arms. "Bella, we're here, s'time to get up. We still have to grab tickets, and figure out how we get the truck ferried."

"M'tired," she grumbled. I laughed, leaning over the center console to kiss her. She smiled against my mouth, teeth catching my bottom lip. "I'm up, I'm up. But I want breakfast, bitch. Coffee and a motherfucking McMuffin."

"Bella, it's like...nine at night," I reminded her, pushing hair out of her face. "Come on, we'll grab food on the way there."

The ferry was less a ferry and more a gigantic boat. It was a two-story kind of contraption, painted baby blue and white, the words _Showers of Gold_ splashed across its side. I snorted, human-heathen humor finally getting the better of me.

"Hey Bella," I laughed, nudging her gently and pointing to the stern of the Ferry. "Look at what the boat's called."

Bella looked up from where she was picking through her breakfast, a grin breaking across her face. "The Pee boat? We're riding on a pee boat? Should I be concerned Kinkpire? This girl right here, she's not into golden showers," she stated, pointing to herself and giving me a mock-stern expression.

"Oh hell no," I said flatly. "I still have to convince myself that girls don't shit okay? You piss anywhere near me, and I'll steal all the toilet paper out of our hotel room, and leave you stranded after your TexMex Tuesday mandatory burrito. Don't think I don't know you totally take a shower every time you shit. Not that I'm complaining; thank you, actually. But why do you think I like to hunt on Tuesdays?"

Instead of blushing, or looking embarrassed, Bella just laughed, patting her non-existent stomach. "You gotta eat. I gotta eat."

We boarded, handing off the keys to a greasy-faced teenaged boy. Peen was in the truck bed, curled up in a nest of stolen hotel pillows that Bella had made him for the occasion. The tiny crowed dispersed, pouring out across both decks of the ferry, chattering incessantly as clear blue waves slapped against bow, steadily rocking the boat. Even as a vampire, I hated boats; too attuned to the world around me. I shifted my feet to compensate for the swaying floor easily, but Bella, she wasn't exactly elegant.

She stood uneasily against the rail near the vehicle loading area, Peen's frantic naked face peeking up from the cab window. "Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck," Bella chanted, white skin stretched across her knuckles as she gripped the filthy railing. "Oh my God, I'm going to die."

Fear slammed into me, eyes darting across the small scattered crowed of people to locate the threat. "What? What?"

She shook her head back and forth, eyes clenched shut. "Hate water. Hate boats. Hate this. Hate this. Hate this. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Fuck. Fuck. Damnitmotherfuckinghshit."

"Breathe, Bella," I demanded, grasping her by the shoulders. "Come on, just breathe. Why are we on a boat if they scare you shitless?"

"Number five on the list. And number seven, I guess," she explained quietly into my chest. "Scare the shit out of myself and...and..."

I chuckled, pressing a kiss into her hair. "See a miracle happen? What's the miracle?"

"In this case they're unanimous," she grumbled, not making an ounce of sense. "I...uh. I don't feel so good. Oh fuck!" She paled, pressing hard against the railing and...

…Vomited up her meager dinner of double bacon cheese burger and coffee all down the side of the ferry. "Mother fucker," I groaned, curling my body over hers and quickly pulling her hair back as she continued to puke; wretched, heaving chokes, followed by sick, wet, splattering splashes as the contents of her stomach met Lake Michigan. She didn't need to puke in her fucking hair, that smell _lingered_ and we'd be on this boat for two hours.

She was pale and clammy, and eyeing the water with distaste. Tucking her hair behind her ears, I held my hand to her forehead, "Feel better?"

"A little," she said quietly, a small smile curling up her lips. "You held my hair."

**!#$%^&***

Bella disappeared to find herself a bathroom while I acquired a bottle of water for her and some gum from the little vendor on the upper deck. On a whim, I grabbed her a cupcake; a half smashed white confection with butter cream frosting with a two-dimensional plastic ferry sticking out of the top.

I waited inside the lower landing, seated at a white plastic table, Bella's things lined up in front of me. It was dark, but the sky was clear and cloudless, thousands of brilliant blinking stars shining on the water. I caught her scent, something as familiar to me as my own skin these days, carried in by the breeze. She found me instantly, no needing to search through the crowd of overweight tourist and unruly, snot-faced children running freely across the deck.

"I bought you a cupcake," I said, somewhat stupidly, "and some gum."

A man dressed in khaki pants and a baby-blue polo shirt stepped forward, tipping his hat. He was red and white haired, middle forties, with sun-dried skin and a dark tan. Bella smiled somewhat awkwardly, pointing over her shoulder at the man. "Hey, Peter. This is Captain Kirk. That is so totally his real name. I checked. He uh...well..."

I internally groaned. "You're not in trouble are you? What did you do? Seriously sir, we'll pay for it," I began to reassure the Captain, when the man just grinned at me, and Bella laughed, fishing Peen out of her purse.

"Peen couldn't miss this," Bella explained without explaining. "He's part of the family." Thrusting Peen into my arms, Bella smiled, and to my total and utter confusion, she grabbed my free hand, breathing deeply once before shocking the utter fuck out of me.

"Marry me, Peter?"

I blinked, staring at her, in her army-green cargo dress, the front pockets wrinkled and upturned from being worn twice without washing and shoved half-hazardly in her bag. She was still missing a shoe lace, and there was a dark purple bruise edged with green on her knee from where she banged it getting into the truck earlier that morning. She wasn't wearing socks, and she stilled smelled kind of like puke. She had pulled her hair into a messy bun, mismatched curls and waves falling around her face, and she was looking up at me with her big brown, broken eyes, smiling so big it struck me stupid. "What?"

"You held my hair," she repeated her words from earlier. "Even though you always said you wouldn't, you so totally did and I'm so stupidly in love with you Peter."

"Wow. Yeah, yeah. Yes. I mean yes, of course," I stammered out. "When?"

"I was kind of thinking now," Bella replied with a shrug, toeing the scuffed wooding floor boards of the deck.

"As Captain of the boat, I can marry you. But without the proper paperwork, it isn't legally binding." He shrugged, "I don't really think that matters to the Lady though."

"Legal-shmegal. Let's get married, with Peen as our witness, " Bella said with a grin, ignoring the growing crowd of on-lookers. "Read what's on the paper, Captain," she said, shoving a scrawled-upon cocktail napkin into the man's hand. "Put a lotta thought into that."

"Do you Isabella Swan, take Peter Legion," he looked down into a folded piece of paper, covered in Bella's slanty writing, "to be your awesomely wedded husband, friend, and everything?"

Oh god, she'd written our vows.

Bella laughed, "I do."

"Peter Legion, do you take Isabella Swan as your awesomely wedded wife, friend and everything. To have and to hold _hair_," the Captain laughed at the paper, "and all that junk?"

"I do."

"Then by the power vested in me by the Great Lakes Captains Association, as ..." He quirked a brow at Bella, returning his eyes to the paper, "As Peen as your witness, I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Legion. You may kiss your husband."

Grabbing the front of my button up in with both her hands, Bella tugged me forward, slamming our mouths together on a ferry some one between Wisconsin and Michigan, in a crowed of boat-weary strangers who awe'd and clapped.

And if only for a moment, God, Heaven, and mother fucking fate just didn't matter.

**!#$%^&***

Grinning like a loon, I followed Bella's directions down the back streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan, dipping through middle-class suburbia. "Turn here, and then take a right at the second stop sign."

"Are you gonna tell me what this is?" I asked for the umpteenth time. "You're all fidgety. I want to know."

"Though you knew everything," she retorted with a smirk. "But seriously, I'm like freaking out. But this...this is important. And I want you here for it."

Still smiling, I sighed. "Fine. Don't tell me. See if I care."

"It's like totally killing you and we both know it," Bella replied with a grin. I turned at the second stop sign as instructed, watching out the corner of my eye as Bella steeled herself for whatever it was she had brought us to.

"Okay," she said, more to herself than to me. "Okay, I can do this. We can do this. Pull into the third drive way. The one with the red Prius."

"Bella..."

She kissed me silent, leaning over the console. "Come on," she said, smoothing down her rumpled pockets and tucking her hair behind her ear, "before I lose my balls and make a break for it."

With my hand in hers, we made our way up the little stone walkway. I could hear the humans within, two of them. A woman who smelled much like Bella but spicier. Bella grinned up at me, squeezing my hand as she knocked.

The door flew open a moment later, a wide eyed blond woman staring at us through a screen door, "Bella?"

"Hi Mom."

A/N So, it wasn't a lemon. But hey, they have to have a honeymoon, right? As Peen as my witness man, comments are love.

**Go here to see a Movie Promotion Poster for Bella's book-movie _'Sunset' _**

_www(dot)twitpic(dot)com/215lvf/full_

_the dot's are actualy periods, just saying. _


	19. Husbandpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 19/? **

**Author: **Lifelesslyndsey

**Category: **Twilight

**Pairing: **Bella x Peter

**Summary: **Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating: **Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 2,197

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, except Peen. Peen is totally mine. I don't even own Gabriel, the Bible owns Gabriel. Hey, does that make this a Twilight/Bible crossover. People who write Bible Fan fiction should be shot, so I hope not.

**Beta:** The darling lacym3 who jumped on the chance to beta this, and is subsequentially the peanut to my butter.

**A/N **Hey there, please don't heckle me. I know it's been a while, but I'm here now, with a 2k chapter of cuteness. I am going to try my best to keep updating regularly, and am actually working on a Hit and Run Chapter as well. So bear with me, please.

**ALSO!** Check out www(dot)themajorsarmy(dot)blogspot(dot)com

We're hosting a contest called The Whitlock Wars, and I want you people to write me stories about Jasper, Peter, or Char back in the days of Maria's army! Do it! I'll love you forever!

_**Previously (you've probably forgotten, it's been a month.) **_

_"It's like totally killing you and we both know it," Bella replied with a grin. I turned at the second stop sign as instructed, watching out the corner of my eye as Bella steeled herself for whatever it was she had brought us to. _

_"Okay," she said, more to herself than to me. "Okay, I can do this. We can do this. Pull into the third drive way. The one with the red Prius." _

_"Bella..." _

_She kissed me silent, leaning over the console. "Come on," she said, smoothing down her rumpled pockets and tucking her hair behind her ear, "before I lose my balls and make a break for it." _

_With my hand in hers, we made our way up the little stone walkway. I could hear the humans within, two of them. A woman who smelled much like Bella but spicier. Bella grinned up at me, squeezing my hand as she knocked. _

_The door flew open a moment later, a wide eyed blond woman staring at us through a screen door, "Bella?" _

_"Hi Mom." _

**And now... **

"Hi mom," Bella all but wheezed, her breath escaping her in one quiet whoosh. She had one hand curled around the door frame, and one hand curled around me, as we hovered on the little cement front porch. The porch light flicked on, illuminating the dark suburban street, attracting every mosquito in a five mile radius. I flinched, smelling the flurry of different bloods as they smacked into the exposed bulb.

The screen door was pushed open roughly, missing Bella's nose by an inch. I saw it coming before it happened, freckles vivid on the pale, wiry little arm as it was drawn ,and the loud smack of skin against skin. Bella's head reeled, and I bit back a growl as a brilliant red hand print blossomed across her check. Suddenly the resemblance was noticeable, not in the eyes and hair of course, but in the cheek bones, in the mouth, in the rounded curve of the jaw.

More disturbingly so, she smelled like Bella; the same flowery lavender scent, but laced with hints of sweet pea and lily. She smelled good, brilliantly so, and it made me wonder what Bella would smell like, had she never been tainted by all the pills. I violently shoved the fucking thought down, and ignored the painful clench of my insides. The woman, the mom, let her hand fall to her side, balling it into a fist, fingers clenching the wispy periwinkle material of her long skirt.

Bella sighed, shoulders slumping, causing Peen to growl from inside her purse. "I deserved that," she admitted, and I could tell she wasn't upset. She seemed as if she had expected as much. I was fucking boggled.

"Four years, Bella," Renee breathed, blinking back tears. "I've seen neither hide nor hair of you in four years, and you just show up on my front porch."

Toeing the welcome mat, Bella shrugged awkwardly. "I was in the neighborhood?" She offered lightly, not looking up. "Look momma, if you want me to go I will...I just...I wanted to see you."

Rolling her eyes, Renee sighed. "Like I'm gonna throw you out now. Just...just give your momma a minute to process. God almighty child of mine, you've given me enough gray hair already."

"Looks good on you," Bella grinned, looking up from her lashes, her thumb brushing over mine as she smiled at her mother. She turned her gaze to the boy, still hanging from Renee's hip. "Hey Jamie, you sure have gotten big."

Renee snorted, but her eyes were smiling, "Yeah, well it's been four years Bella. Last time you saw you're brother, he was still shittin' in his pants." She sighed, looping her daughter in a one armed hug, the little boy smashed between them. "God, Bella, I've missed you."

With her hand still in mine, Bella shuddered, a broken little cry escaping her smiling mouth. "I know, I know. I suck...I just...I'm here now, though? I mean...better late than never. Fu-I mean, crap. I really missed you guys."

Her mom was crying too, and I felt a little awkward just standing there wholly unacknowledged, still attached to Bella. I stared awkwardly at the little array of garden gnomes to keep myself from staring at the little array of emotional women. My fingers twitched in Bella's hand, and she startled, as if she forgot I was even there, flashing me a quick, guilty grin. "This is Peter, he's...uh. This is my husband, momma. Peter, this is Renee, my mom. And this little guy, this is Jamie."

"Her brother," Renee supplied, ushering us into the living room. "Come on in! I'm sure the neighbors got enough to talk about, don't need you standing on the front porch. In! In! Phil's out, he'll be sad he missed you."

"He's still with the team, then?" Bella asked awkwardly, pulling me down to sit on the couch.

"He, uh, no. He's not. He just finished school, um, sports medicine, he's a physical therapist, or well, he's got another two years to finish up the degree, but he's working. It makes him happy, happier then the team ever did, I think, and we've got to settle. " Renee explained, shifting Jamie onto the other couch. He sank back into the leather, eyeing Bella's bag with a grin.

"Is there a kitty in there?" He asked, stretching up to see inside, and Bella laughed, fishing Peen out of her purse. "Holy crap, he's naked."

"Jamie, don't say crap."

"But _mooooom,_ he's _naked_. He's got nothing on! Did you shave him? What's his name? Can I hold him? Mom can I hold him?" He paused, turning to Bella, "Can I hold him Bellsa?"

"If it's okay with your mother, then yes you can," Bella said softly, and Renee laughed in the back ground, a sound of acquiescence. "Here, come sit between Peter and I."

"_Our_ mommy, Bellsa," the little boy corrected, and I watched the little wrinkle of thought form between Bella's eyes. She didn't correct him, and pushed away her frown with a forced out smile.

I bristled, inching myself away as Jamie wormed his little body between us. I didn't feel as if I should be touching children, it seemed so vastly and terribly wrong, and my skin itched with all my passed misdeeds. I'd never drained a kid, I knew that much, but it still make me feel sick to my fucking stomach to sit next to a _child_, God's Innocent, and play nice when only a year ago I was killing people. I felt like a serial killer, the kind that stepped out to go get milk, killed the mail man, and came home for dinner. It was too domestic for my liking, knowing that in a few hours time I would have to find a reason to leave and go kill off local wide life.

For the first time at Bella's side since the beginning, I felt like I didn't belong. This was a different Bella, with family, with other people who cared about her, and knew her in ways that I didn't, and couldn't. These people knew Old Bella, the Bella my own Bella had banned me from questioning.

I was at a loss.

"His name is Peen, Jamie. He's Peter's cat, but he drove all over the country with us. He even goes potty outside, like a dog." Bella explained, holding her hand over Jamie's as they petted Peen's hairless skin.

"Where'dja get him?" Jamie asked, turning his grey eyes up at me. He looked like Renee, with blonde curls and dimples, smiling up at me with all his tiny baby teeth.

I blanched, suddenly recalling the fucked up way in which I came to own Peen. Looking over Jamie's head, I gave Bella what I was sure was a helpless look, eyes wide and worried, "I...uh...a very nice lady left Peen behind and uh...he didn't have anywhere to go, so I took him with me."

Jamie nodded, wiggling his sticky little fingers behind Peens ear, and firing off his second question. "Where did the nice lady go? Why would she leave her kitty behind?"

This time, Bella answered before I could start stuttering, "She went to Heaven, Jamie. And it wasn't Peen's time to go, so he stayed behind, and Peter took him home."

Jamie nodded as if he understood, and perhaps he did. "So she's with Bellsa's dad now, in Heaven," he said, almost to himself. "Do kitties go to Heaven too? That lady probably misses him."

"Uh," Bella began, giving me her own helpless look. "Animals are all pretty good, you know, so yeah, I bet they get to go to Heaven too. Right Peter?" She mouthed, 'help me!' over Jamie's head, giving me a say-something kind of look.

"Right, yeah. Right. Animals are good. Do you read the bible, Jamie?" I asked, hesitantly. Bella had spoken enough of her childhood that I knew she hadn't exactly had the most religious upbringing, but I could see the fresh look of Faith in her mother that made me wonder if belief came with age when it came to Renee.

"Momma takes me to Sunday school, and we read the bible there," Jamie informed me, confirming my suspicions. Bella smiled at that, moving her hand from Peen to run her finger through Jamie's hair.

"Right, well then you might know that God loves all his creatures equally. So yeah, they get go to heaven too." And they did, they even had designated angels for such a thing, but I wasn't exactly going to get into that now.

Renee returned looking a little more put together. "You can...you can stay in the guest room, if you'd like. It's late, I was just getting Jamie ready for bed."

Jamie sighed, pulling at the hem of his Sponge Bob flannel pajamas. "Can't I stay up a little longer?"

Bella laughed, ruffling Jamie's hair, "Listen to your mother, Jamie. And if you ask super nicely, Peter might let you sleep with Peen tonight. He seems to like you."

Turning his grey eyes on me again, Jamie grinned, "Can I Peter? I've never slept with a kitty before."

"Yes, of course. Peen...yeah. He likes to sleep on pillows," I supplied stupidly, "Um. So...uh listen to your mother. And...Yeah."

Giggling, Bella scooped Jamie off the couch. He clutched Peen gently against his chest, before giving in and nuzzling Bella too. "Come on, kiddo, I'll put you in bed." Bella tossed me a wink, and I watched as she carried Jamie through the kitchen and down the hall.

"It's nice to meet you, Peter," Renee said softly, sinking into the love seat across from the couch. "You must be special, Bella has never been one for marriage."

"She's special," I replied awkwardly, "To me. She's everything to me. I...she mentioned that she hadn't seen you in a while. I didn't...Bella told me she was an only child!" I blurted out, shocked at my own word-vomit. I hadn't been this ineloquent since meeting Bella.

To my surprise, Renee laughed. "That sounds about right. She tries to distance herself from him, won't admit she's his sister. She doesn't think she deserves the title. She...she hasn't been around much, you know? Hasn't been a sister to him. She thinks if she tells him enough, says it enough, that he'll believe it too. But it's in the blood, and he loves her. We send pictures, to her manager Kelly. Kelly sends us pictures of Bella too."

"He's asleep now," Bella said quietly, stepping into the living room. "He's so big, I feel like an ass hole."

"You've certainly got a mouth on you, Bella," Renee laughed. She rose up from the couch, swooping into to wrap Bella up tightly in her tiny arms. She pressed a kiss against Bella's messy hair, her fingers brushing the paint splattered brushes, "Man Bells. I really missed you. I thought...I thought I wouldn't...and it would be too late. I thought you never wanted to see me again, when you...and you never called or wrote, and I..."

"Mom," Bella said gently, eyes flickering to me, "Mom calm down. I came, I'm here. Just...calm down." Breathing deeply, Bella disentangled herself from her mother's clutches with gentle force, holding the weepy woman at arm's length. "Why don't you get some sleep. Peter and I are going to get a hotel, and we'll come by in the morning."

Hiccoughing slightly, Renee wiped a tear from her cheek. "Guest room is open, if...if you wanted to stay. I want you to stay. Please?"

I nodded as Bella looked at me over her mother's shoulder. "Alright then, we'll stay. You go get some sleep, and we'll get settled in."

Nodding, Renee hugged her daughter once more, before slipping down the hallway. Her bedroom door closed with a loud click, and Bella sank down onto the couch, curling her body up against me. "So that's my mom."

"And your brother," I said quietly, wrapping my own arm around her. She smelled like Bella, and pills, and little boy. And mother fucking sweet pea and lily.

"He's not my br-" I cut her off with a kiss, using her own tactics against her for once.

"He is your brother, and he's an awesome little boy. You're an idiot for not wanting to claim the title of Big Sister."

"I just..."She paused, laying her head on my shoulder. "I suck. I'm the suckiest big sister ever. I'm never here, I don't call on Christmas. I don't have his pee-wee T-ball pictures in my wallet. I...I don't deserve to be called Big Sister."

"I bet you still send him birthday cards, with stupid amounts of money inside." I said with a grin, and she laughed, nodding against me. "He loves you, you love him, that's enough okay?"

"Just like us then," Bella said against my shoulder. "You love me, and I love you, and that's enough, right?"

"More than I ever deserved."

**A/N So this was a totally schmoopy, slightly angsty, cute and fluffy chapter of 'aww'. No speculating in the comments! But if you want to speculate, send me a message and I'll speculate with you! Hope you liked it, sorry I took a month to update, RL has been kicking my ass, but now that I am back in the Angel-Peter Mood, I should be updating a little more frequently. Thanks for sticking it out with me!**


	20. Pornpire

_Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 20/?_

_Author: Lifelesslyndsey_

_Category: Twilight_

_Pairing: Bella x Peter_

_Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other._

_Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons_

_Word Count: 2,546_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

_Beta: The darling VampishVixen who lets me whore around and come crawling back to her._

**PREVIOUSLY**

_**"He's not my br-" I cut her off with a kiss, using her own tactics against her for once.**_

_**"He is your brother, and he's an awesome little boy. You're an idiot for not wanting to claim the title of Big Sister."**_

_**"I just..."She paused, laying her head on my shoulder. "I suck. I'm the suckiest big sister ever. I'm never here, I don't call on Christmas. I don't have his pee-wee T-ball pictures in my wallet. I...I don't deserve to be called Big Sister."**_

_**"I bet you still send him birthday cards, with stupid amounts of money inside." I said with a grin, and she laughed, nodding against me. "He loves you, you love him, that's enough okay?"**_

_**"Just like us then," Bella said against my shoulder. "You love me, and I love you, and that's enough, right?"**_

_**"More than I ever deserved."**_

_**And now...**_

Bella dropped her bag on the floor before falling into the guest bed fully dressed. "Make me naked, please," she demanded, raising her arms up listlessly. Smiling, I plucked all twelve buttons free, one by one down her rumpled cargo dress, pushing the fabric down to expose her adorkably matching-rubber ducky cotton bra and panties.

"You have to hunt tonight?" she asked, working her own fingers deftly down the buttons of my shirt, palms slipping beneath my white undershirt, hot against my stomach. My muscles jumped beneath her touch, fingers burning trails till their tips dipped beneath the waistband of my jeans.

"Bella, we can't!" I hissed in alarm, pulling away. "We're in your mother's guest bedroom for fuck's sake."

She continued un-deterred, hands sinking into my jeans, cupping my instantly hard cock over the motherfucking silk boxers she had insisted I buy. I shivered, feeling my pathetic excuse of a resolve crumble in her very-capable hands. "It's our wedding night," she reminded me, "it's like a sin not to consummate it."

It wasn't a sin, but I wasn't pointing it out, not when she was cupping my fucking balls at least. She bent her knees upward, trapping me between her thighs, and I caved, leaning in to kiss her smirking mouth. At least then I wouldn't have to look her smug-expression of sexual victory. She wore that expression often enough.

She grew impatient, both hands tugging at my jeans now. Attached at the mouth, the clothing-removal process was stilted, but neither she nor I seemed inhibited by the fact. Shirts hung from shoulders, buttons undone, nothing but a cluster fuck of fabric and hands, grasping and tugging to suit our needs. The position was awkward, all clumsy angles trapped beneath thin layers of cotton and denim. She shoved impatiently at my jeans, shoving them to my knees, her hand still wrapped around my cock. Growling into her mouth, I couldn't be bothered to move away long enough to tear off the goddamn motherfucking rubber-ducky panties, instead shoving them to the side before sinking my fingers in her without so much as a pause. This was a fucking _dance, _and no one knew the steps but us. I pushed, she pulled, the whole rhythm set with a stutter of breath, little _ah-ah-ah's_ and _oh-oh-oh's_, ending in a crescendo-mess of _Oh My Gods_.

She moaned, just a little too loud, and a little too long, eyes shut tightly, chapped bottom lip caught between her teeth. I pressed one hand over her mouth and one hand further up inside of her, feeling the vibrations of her little whimpers against my palm, like _huh-huh-huh_, her breath hotter then hell itself.

She twisted her hand, fingers tightening around my cock with each stroke, like an unspoken challenge, as if to say, in a perverted mockery of Sign Language,_ 'you're-going-to-come-first-dammit'. _

Sex was always a competition with Bella, always a challenge of wills and boundaries, but in this war, even the loser won in the end. She pushed me further, and I brought her higher. I could feel my lips pull back into a feral smile as I curled my fingers inside her, watching her skin stain pink all the way to her chest. She wanted to scream, always my screamer, but I kept my hand clamped on her mouth, and refusing escape to what I was sure would be the litany of absolute filth that usually escaped that pretty mouth of hers. My thumb brushed her clit, her panties caught awkwardly, pulling taught against her with every push of my fingers. Her free hand grasped the bed sheets, back arching to meet my every thrust, until her ass was off the bed, feet slipping on the fresh cotton bed sheets.

Her hand faltered, fingers stuttering around me, as her breath left her in one hard _woosh_, a muffled groan pressed against my palm. She came hard, and first I might add, around me, body falling limp against the bed with a grunt. Her head fell to the side on the pillow, probably in a refusal to acknowledge my own victorious smile. She was panting, flushed and sweaty; I was purring, half dressed and desperate.

We were our usual mess.

"_Bella,_" I half-growled, half-whined. She smiled, or tried to, her hand grabbing roughly at the open fly of my jeans, slamming me forward against her. I fell to my hands, knees still braced between hers, my cock slick between our stomachs, hot with her sweat, hot with _her_. Pressed against her soft stomach, it was almost, _almost_ enough to set me off. Not so long ago, it would have. She trained me well.

Pulling back just enough to find myself sliding slick against her wet panties, I pushed them aside once more, sliding home with a growl I couldn't quite suppress. Bella's eyes were closed again, fingers curled around the headboard as she pushed against me. I had to stop, had to get a hold of myself, conscious of the fact that there was not only Bella's mother, but a child much too close for comfort. She clenched, a vicious smile playing on her flushed face, forcing me to move, act, _something, fuck, fuck, fuck oh my-_

I slammed back, reveling in her head-to-toe shudder, the way her mouth fell open, lips wet and shiny. I kissed her then, brutal and hard, until her hands left the headboard to fist in my hair. It was strange to be so quiet, to say nothing; no filthy fuck-me words of encouragement, or incoherent babble, a jumble of _oh please_ and _yes more_ lost in translation, lost in the rising tide of physical epiphany. I wouldn't last like this, not with her straining against me, whiney little whimpers, breathy little moans, a quiet orchestra building up and up and up, till the percussion takes over, and we both crash.

I slammed into her; long, hard, painfully slow thrusts, ignoring the vicious urge to fuck her hard and fast. Pushing up off the bed, I pulled myself to my knees, pulling her with me until she was half seated in my lap, back still pressed against mattress. I held her at the hip, and at the shoulder, keeping her tilted, inverted, all the blood rushing to her head at the slight angle. The angle made the difference, and she gasped, fingers curling around my wrist for something to hold onto as she came on my cock in a rush of warmth and tightness, and a whimpered little -

"_Oh my God!_" she hissed, toes curling as she shuddered through her climax. I fell with her, the force of my own orgasm slamming the pointless breath from my chest. Her hands relaxed, falling limply to the bed, and I followed suit, curling her languid body about me, my half-soft dick still nestled between her soaked thighs.

Bella forwent her customary post-orgasm cigarette. "No smoking in the house, and all that," she explained. "You gonna hunt? Michigan is pretty much all trees and water, so it shouldn't be too hard."

I nodded, grimacing as my boxers clung to my dick, still damp with Bella juice. "Better get it out of the way. Your family is the first group of humans I'm going to be exposed to for any period of time since I went vegetarian. I really don't think I'd hurt them, but I'm not taking chances." I paused, wondering when sharing became over-sharing. Even with all the months at Bella's side, there were still some things I'd never understand. "Your mother smells just like you, you know. Without the medication tainting her blood. It's kind of disorienting, actually."

"Huh. Edward never mentioned that. He met my mom once, in the hospital after James attacked me. I wonder if he wanted to eat her too?" she shrugged, turning to press a kiss against my shoulder. "You get going. You'll need to be back by six-ish, Jamie gets up pretty early, and he'll probably come running in here to wake us up. It's a kid thing, I guess."

Tucking myself back into my jeans, I kissed Bella once more, before slipping out the window, into middle-class suburban Michigan. Bella hadn't been lying, there were tree's everywhere, abundant with deer, deer, and more deer.

I was in the process of draining my third White-Tail when Gabriel made his presence known in a flurry of blinding-white wings, littering the forest air with the taste of the Host. I choked on the bitter blood as a hand ghosted down my spine, forcing my wings to tear free from my back.

"Dammit, Gabriel!" I sputtered, spilling blood down my chin and neck. "You can't just fucking do that!"

"You'll find that I can," Gabriel replied in kind, perching himself like a fucking bird in the tree above me. "You need to leave the girl."

"What?" I said sharply, looking up at him, my veins buzzing with blood and anger. "No."

"You do neither yourself nor the girl any good by remaining by her side. Spare yourself the pain, Little Brother, and let her go. Without you, she will be free from all Earth's burdens."

"Why are you doing this?" I whispered, sagging back against the tree. The bark caught in my imperfect wings, pulling uncomfortably. "Why now, Gabriel? Please don't do this. I can't leave her, I'll die...I'll _die_."

"You know you won't," he chided gently. "You _can't."_

My head hung low as I spoke even lower, "But I'll want to, and what good is an angel who has no will to continue? If you take her from me, you take my faith."

"Your faith is in God, Micha, not the girl. You misplace your heart." Gabriel sighed, flittering down beside me. He rested his head on my shoulder, sliding a smooth arm around my waist. "This is why it is for the best. You are too tied up in her, Micha. She has become too much to you."

"She is _everything_ to me," I agreed, my defiance chilling the air, until our own unneeded breath was visible. "I won't leave her."

Gabriel's face was a heart-wrenching combination of broken and hard. "That is your decision then? That given the chance, you would defy God and change the girl?"

I raised my eyes to look at him, "If she asks it, so it will be."

"I've been granted permission to make compromise." Gabriel began cautiously. "Should you swear upon the Host that you will not change the girl, no matter what her wish."

"There is no compromise, Gabriel. It will always be her."

"Permission to return, Micha. You can come home," Gabriel said bluntly. "With pardon to visit her once, should her judgment lead her through the Gates."

"I've been given leave to visit her in Heaven after she dies?" I asked, bewildered. It was unheard of. Angels did not enter Heaven. Our place was the Host.

"Once," Gabriel repeated. "A chance to explain to her the extenuating circumstances in which you departed. Clear the air, so to speak."

"You're asking me to abandon her," I said slowly, "with the opportunity to apologize once she's dead."

Gabriel did not waver, but I could see the sympathetic spark behind his eye. This Gabriel was not my brother, desperate though he was to comfort me. This Gabriel was Messenger of God. He was doing what he had to, and I respected that. "That is correct, yes."

"And if I do not accept?" I pressed, turning away from him.

"Two things: should you not change her, you shall still be accepted into the Host, but you will never see her again." He paused, fingers curling around my elbow to pull me close. He pressed his chin against my shoulder as he spoke. "And if you turn her, Peter, not only can you not return, but you will be...dispatched."

I whipped around, slamming Gabriel into a tree. "The ultimatum then is do it or die?" I growled.

"Let her go, Micha," he pleaded, brown eyes wide. "Don't do this to yourself, please. Just come home!"

"I..." I let him go. "I can't decide now."

"You have two weeks to make your choice. I shall return to you, and you shall answer." Gabriel said, returning to his formal form.

I frowned, feeling the weight of impending decision crash down on me. "Why two weeks? That's not very long. Typical Ultimatum normally gets three months."

"We cannot verify that the girl will be alive then. You've torn her fate to pieces," Gabriel said quietly. "We have a vague estimation, not that I can disclose that information to you. You're presence has made it difficult to form an exact time. Even now, the assumed day is questionable, as we do not know your intentions. You are altering the Path, Micha; this offer is more than what should be expected."

"This offer is bullshit," I growled, only to regret it. I knew, _I knew_ better. Changing Bella would damn me, I understood that; but asking me to leave now hurt much too much. "I'm sorry...I...I don't know what to do. I love her, Gabriel. I'm not sure I could leave her."

Gabriel sighed, shaking his head. "God loves you, the both of you. He does not do this to hurt you, Peter. His way is the only way, you know that! You've seen what happens when one defies him. Do not do this, do not abandon him."

"I didn't abandon him, Gabriel," I replied wearily. "But I've been without God for a long time."

"We looked!" Gabriel cried, "We searched for you, Micha. Every day you were gone, we searched! Your home is not here! Your home is with us!"

"It was," I admitted. "I do miss you. But...Gabriel...I don't know what to do."

"Make not your decision now, for it is a fool who rushes in. I'll return to you in two weeks." He pressed a kiss upon my cheek. "Take care, Little Brother."

**xXxXxXx**

I crawled silently through the bedroom window, tugging off my torn shirt and shoving it into my bag. Scrubbing the blood from my face, I stared at myself in the mirror of the tiny half bathroom attached to the guest room. What was I doing? How could God ask this of me?

I knew in my heart that I should leave, return to the Host, and leave Bella to live her life. I'd see her again, if only once. But I couldn't imagine one solid fucking day without her beside me, let alone an eternity.

Changing her was looking more and more appealing.

I understood, of course, that should I turn her. They would come for me, just as I had come for so many. But I knew their tricks. I knew every trick in the fucking book, I wrote the fucking book! I could run from them, I was sure of it. Bella and I could run.

But could I do that to her?

**A/N: So, sexy times and an ultimatum. Next chapter will have more Jamie and Renee. They won't be staying in Michigan long, I can tell you that. **

**ALSO! I am looking to make a soundtrack for this fic and I need suggestions for specific chapters. So, if you have a favorite chapter, and know a song that kind of fits with it, let me know! I'm thinking Brand New "Okay, I believe you, but my Tommy Gun doesn't" but I don't know what chapter. Anyways, give me some good Angel songs, or just songs that fit. **

**ALSO! I want to do like...a challenge of sorts. I am giving any one who reads this story to write a O/S out-take for this story. It can take place any time before THIS chapter. Please do not do future fics, and please try to keep with the story line. So no introducing the Cullens or whatever. Gotta save that for me. Five thousand words or under. Send them to me before you post them, so I can read and okay them. I'll pick a winner, and that winner gets a O/S written by me to their preference. This is just something I thought would be fun. You guys always tell me what you wish would have happened, and now you have a chance to write it up. **

**Please send your stories to souls_on_salehotmail(dot)com**


	21. Otherbrotherpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 21/?**

**Author:** Lifelesslyndsey

**Category: **Twilight

**Pairing: **Bella x Peter

**Summary: **Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating: **Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

**Word Count: **3,134

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Beta: **The darling VampishVixen who lets me whore around and come crawling back to her.

**A/N Sorry this is kind of late. Real life and all that. But I promise, it's worth it, if you've been following this story as religiously as some of you have. It's a wee bit longer than the last few as well. Hope you like! **

**Previously On OBTS**

_I knew in my heart that I should leave, return to the Host, and leave Bella to live her life. I'd see her again, if only once. But I couldn't imagine one solid fucking day without her beside me, let alone an eternity._

_Changing her was looking more and more appealing._

_I understood, of course, that should I turn her. They would come for me, just as I had come for so many. But I knew their tricks. I knew every trick in the fucking book, I wrote the fucking book! I could run from them, I was sure of it. Bella and I could run._

_But could I do that to her?_

**Currently on OBTS, PeterPirePOV, of course.**

As Bella had predicted, the door creaked open around 6:20, two pairs of eyes blinking up from the end of the bed. Jamie stood, wrapped in Spongebob pajamas, clutching the content form of Peen to his chest. He reached out tentatively, poking Bella in the soft arch of her left foot.

"Mmmhm." Bella grunted, looking up from the pillow.

"Mom made coffee," Jamie whispered loudly. "Are you getting up?"

With another grunt, Bella flopped back on the bed, "Can't refuse coffee," she replied sleepily. "Five more minutes."

"I'll get her up," I offered, throwing the small person a wink. He nodded, wide eyed, tripping back out the room.

"Five more minutes!" Bella whined.

"Come on, obviously your mother is not above the use of bribery. Whatever she's brewing, it smells a lot like that French shit you demand on really rough nights."

Rolling onto her back, Bella flopped roughly, kicking the blankets to her feet. She opened her eyes one at a time, taking her time to glare sleepily up at me from behind her messy bangs. "She better be. I bought her an eleven hundred dollar coffee pot. It should shit out liquid gold with whip cream for as much as I spent on it."

I pulled on a pair the jeans Bella had forced me to buy, pairing them with a plain t-shirt. "I don't think I'd want to drink anything that anything shit out, to be honest."

"Okay, so it doesn't shit gold, but it does make a fuck-awesome double espresso Americano," she conceded, swinging her feet to the floor. She sighed, "I have to wear a bra, don't I?"

Staring openly at her thinly veiled chest, I nodded, "Unless you want me to be stupidly distracted by your nipples, yeah, you probably should." Grabbing it up off the floor, I tossed her the same bra she'd worn the previous day. "Come on now, let's get you your fuck-awesome Americano."

xXxXxXx

Jamie, Renee, and a man I could only assume was the patriarch of the family, Phil, were already bumbling about the small but comfortable kitchen when I finally managed to get Bella up and moving. She sunk ungracefully into one of the chairs, gesturing for me to follow suit.

"So, this is your guy?" The man wasted no time, giving me a grin.

"This is my guy," Bella concurred with a matching smile. "Peter, Phil. Phil, Peter. Now, please make with the Grunting And Ball Scratching Ceremony Of Introduction, because I want my coffee."

As if on cue, Renee sat a steaming cup of something in front of Bella, who wrapped her hands around the white ceramic cup without a second of preamble. "Sweet, sweet liquid love," she cooed into her cup.

"Can I get you anything, Peter?" Renee asked, sending me into a momentary panic. We hadn't given the eating situation much thought, and while I knew it was plausible that I would be able to consume human food, I had no burning desire to fucking try.

"Oh he can't," Bella said almost flippantly, reaching around her chair to rummage through her messenger bag where it hung. "He has gallbladder issues. Clear-liquid only diet." She emerged from her bag holding a medium sized thermos, from which I could hear, was blessedly empty, setting it down before me.

"Oh that's awful," Renee said sympathetically. "Maybe I could make you some tea?"

"That's what's in here," I said quickly. "Some herbal stuff, very medicinal. Full of vitamins...and stuff."

Nodding knowledgeably, Renee busied herself with Jamie's breakfast. "Chamomile and Acidophilus?" she asked, and I could only nod stupidly. "That's a good detoxification tea. Have you tried catnip and dandelion root? With a little ginger maybe? It's really good for anemia. You're looking a bit pale." Upon her last comment, Renee paused, her lips pursed in thought.

"He's Carlisle's nephew," Bella interjected seamlessly. "Quite an accident that I met him, really. I was visiting Jacob and Leah, and Peter was at the White House, inspecting the property for Carlisle and Esme. You know how La Push and Carlisle's property run along the lake? Anyway, for some reason Jake wanted to hike, and of course, I fell down that damn hill again, twisted my ankle real bad. Peter found me, patched me up, and I decided to keep him."

It took a lot of effort on my part to not stare like an idiot at Bella's seamless and _shameless_ lying. "Oh, well that's good. Those backwoods are treacherous! So, you're Carlisle's nephew? How is he?"

"As well as is to be expected," I said awkwardly. "I haven't seen him in a while. He ... called me, knew I'd be in the area. I had just moved to Seattle, and the trip really wasn't a problem." I replied carefully. I didn't even know who the fuck Carlisle was. "He insisted I use the White House as a vacation retreat." I added, almost as an after thought, throwing Bella a panicked surreptitious glance. Her smile twitched, the only acknowledgment that I hadn't fucked the whole fictitious tale up.

Waving her hand errantly, Renee returned to her work at the stove, "Yes, that house was quite beautiful. Even when I lived in Forks, it was beautiful, of course the Cullens hadn't lived there then."

And with that the cautious conversation was swept away to safer topics, leaving me no less at ease.

**xXxXxXx **

"What the fuck was that?" I asked, when Bella and I had returned to the bedroom. Bella looked up from where she was tearing through her bag.

"My mom's a naturalist. That's how I knew she'd buy the liquid-only crap." Bella explained with a grin. "You did pretty good out there, Petey."

"Yeah, lying!" I hissed. "I...I don't lie, Bella. I don't even know how."

"Well apparently you do," she said, the annoyance slipping through her voice. "Look, I couldn't tell her the truth okay? And you look like you could be Carlisle's nephew. She was going to notice the resemblance!"

I sighed, "I know, I just wished you'd have mentioned how we met before hand. I'm really no good at lying." Especially, I thought, to one's parent. It wasn't as if I made it a point to lie to God.

"Well now that we have that out of the way, we won't need to any more, most likely." She pulled on a pair of purple clingy leggings, pairing it off with a grey cotton dress that really didn't match. "Come on, I want to spend some time with the family before we go."

"Go? We just got here." And most of our stay here had been spent sleeping, at least on their part.

"Yeah, but...just...don't look at me that way okay? You don't know how it is, you don't know what will happen if I stay too long. We fight, every fucking time, Peter. And I don't want to leave angry like last time."

"Alright," I conceded.

**xXxXxXx**

I watched from the front porch, my hands wrapped around my empty thermos, as Bella played with Jamie and Peen. Renee took her seat at my side, nursing her own cup of some strange scented tea.

"You love her very much," Renee noted, watching her children from behind her cup.

"I do," I agreed. "More than anything."

Renee nodded, as if there was no other way about it, "Those few who have found themselves loving Bella have loved her fiercely. There is no other way to love my daughter."

"I've never loved any one else the way I love her," I admitted, turning my head to look at Bella's mother.

Turning her head just so, Renee smiled, her eyes burning too brightly. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both. You face difficult decisions Peter. When time comes for you to meet your Maker, be sure that you are prepared to answer. Man has no right to judge the worth of others. But you, Peter, have a choice. Jump, and take with you not one but two lives, or fly, and leave the world behind you, Son. There is what is Good and there is what is Right. The two are not unanimous. And it is only your heart which can lead you." Renee blinked, "Can I get you more tea, dear?"

Struck momentarily speechless, I forced a smile. "I'm good, thank you."

"Well alright then, I'll be inside if you need me." With that she rose from her wicker porch chair, slipping into the house with a kind of fluid grace her daughter did not inherit.

That, I acknowledged, was unexpected. "Your mom is strange," I said, as Bella sat in Renee's chair. The door slammed behind Jamie, the sound of his muddy shoes slapping against the hard wood as he tore through the house.

"Mmmhm, yeah she is. You know she has visions?" Bella asked, scratching at a grass stain on her knee. "There has always been something about her."

"I don't doubt that," I replied in kind. Renee was a Prophet.

Just my fucking luck.

**xXxXxXx**

There had been exactly one hundred and thirty seven Prophets in the last millennium, and Renee Dwyer was one of them. I conceded that though she was clearly Prophesizing, Renee's gift was not conscious. She wasn't aware of what she'd said, the truth in the words. Two roads, indeed.

God or Bella.

The choice should have been easy. I should have come to my decision instantaneously. But I had not. I hadn't been an Angel proper in many years, and my memory of God, and the Host, it had faded into the recesses of my mind. I had been a creature of the earth for too long, growing susceptible to earthly urges, things Angels shouldn't know.

And I loved Bella.

The good-bye was teary, full of hugs and weak smiles. Bella wrapped her tiny form around her mother, burying her face in the short blonde hair. "I'll miss you."

"I'm glad you came, Isabella Marie." Renee whispered, cupping her daughters face between her hands. "I love you, no matter what."

"I love you too, Momma," Bella replied quietly, before turning and kneeling before Jamie. "And I love you too, little brother." She smiled, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you so much, Jamie. Don't forget about me, okay?"

He nodded solemnly, "I won't."

Bella hugged Phil, telling him quietly how happy she was that her mother found some one who loved her so much. He replied with the same sincerity, his eyes flickering to me, that he was happy for her as well. She turned to her mother once more, wiping a tear away. "I have something for you...for all of you. Just...I love you guys so much. I'm sorry I didn't say it enough, I'm sorry I wasn't here. And..." She shoved an envelope into her mother's hands. "I want you to have that...it's...it's the profit rights for any merchandise sold from my book...and my movie. Momma, it's a lot of money, don't argue-"

"Bella, I can't..."

"You can and you will," Bella said more insistently, pushing the envelope firmly into her mother's hand. "I don't need it, I'm already loaded. You'll never have to worry again, okay? I want that. I want to know that everything is okay, just let me have that." She pleaded. "It's enough...Jamie can go to any college he wants. Fuck, mom, you could go to any college you want. I know that money isn't happiness, but I'll be damned if it doesn't help. I wasn't there when you needed me, and I hate that. I'm not trying to buy your forgiveness, but maybe a little peace of mind?"

Renee opened her mouth again, but Phil stepped in, laying a hand on his wife's arm. "Okay, Bella. For Jamie, if nothing else," he allowed. "We love you. If this is what you want, we'll respect that."

"Thank you," Bella whispered, hugging both him and her mother once more. "I have to go now...if I don't...I...I have to."

Renee smiled through her tears. "It's okay baby, I know. You're not done traveling down that road, I know. I'm just glad you made this stop along the way."

Bella looked almost bashful as she turned to me, slipping her small hand into mine. "Well, I was in the area."

**xXxXxXx**

"Let's get a good hotel," Bella said sleepily, four hours out of Michigan and into Indiana. We were on the I-465 loop around Indianapolis, city lights bright against the dark sky.

"There's an exit for a Hilton up a head, will that do, your Highness?" I teased, turning of on the exit.

"Mmhm," Bella murmured. "I want a Jaccuzzi suit."

"We'll have to sneak Peen in," I informed her.

She shrugged, hugging the little naked form of Peen to her body. He only seemed to be moderately traumatized by the manhandling he had endured at the sticky hands of a six year old.

"Hey," I said suddenly. "Your Mother called you Isabella Marie. I thought your middle name was Maria."

"It's both, if you want to get technical." She said, shrugging again. "Marie is my given middle name. When I moved to Seattle, some how it got changed on electric bill to Isabella Maria. And then...I kind of went with it, you know? I realized that it made it a lot harder for some people to find me, while still be fairly close to the truth."

"One day we're going to have to talk about it," I said gently. "About who would want to find you so bad. I want to understand, Bella."

"Not tonight, okay?" she pleaded. "I'll tell you, I promise. I'll tell you all about them...every one of them, but not tonight."

"Not tonight," I echoed.

**xXxXxXx**

The room was a massive thing, open and spacious with the bathroom and en-suite sequestered behind tall, cream colored doors. The balcony displayed a pretty shitty view of the high way, but I wasn't exactly here to take in the sights.

"I'm going to go take a shower, so when I sit in the hot-tub it will be more relaxing, and less like I'm making some sort of filthy people soup." Bella informed me, slipping out of her clothes, and dropping them as she went. She was fully naked before she even hit the bedroom doors.

I laughed, pushing open the balcony doors, cool night air washing over me. I lasted all of five minutes before grabbing our bag and making my way to the bathroom.

As she no doubt planned.

"Took you longer then I expected," she chimed from behind the fogged glass windows. "I'm almost offended."

I laughed, stripping down and slipping into the shower. She came to me at once, the heat of her body burning deeper then the steamy waters. "Forgive me?"

Sighing heavily, "Well, if I must, but I expect serious groveling and prostrating at my feet for the offense."

"As if I'd do anything else," I replied. "As part of my prostration, I insist on servicing all of your needs, beginning with a most gracious and through scrubbing." I grinned, grabbing the scrubby, "I'll begin with your feet, your Highness, if only so that I may kneel before you." And then I did just that.

"You're such a dork," Bella laughed, running her fingers through my hair. "I love you."

After an excessive amount of...groveling, at Bella's feet, she kicked me out, insisting that she was probably a hell of a lot more dirty now then she was to begin with. I laughed, leaving her behind in the steam filled bathroom.

Butt-fucking naked, but with clothes in hand, I slipped out of the bathroom, heading towards the Jacuzzi with devious intent. Bella's scent clung to me, a dick-hardening combination of body-wash, lilacs, pussy, and just Bella, masking even the dank Indiana air. Internally working out how I could instigate a no swim-suit policy, I tossed my clothes on the chair.

"Peter."

I didn't jump, or scream, or squeak. I didn't even move, but my senses sky rocketed, every inch of my body alert with panic. I didn't need to tense, that bastard knew. After all, it was his gift. Just as easily as I had switched into defensive Vampire mode, I grinned, spinning on my feet to face my Sire.

"Jasper."

**xXxXxXx**

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to squash down on my excitement. He just laughed, clearly as pleased as I was. "How did you find me? I haven't seen you in like...since...It's been a long time, you bastard."

"I tried!" Jasper defended, still grinning as he pulled me into a hug. "You disappeared on me, Petey. I wouldn't have found you if it hadn't been for my wife. And your eyes!"

"Yous too!" I said...suddenly feeling awkward. I wasn't fond of coincidence. "What do you mean, your wife?"

"She's a Seer. I've been having her look for you for years, Peter, but nothing ever came up. Like you didn't exist." He grinned even wider, "But then...it just hit her. She saw you sign something, it looked like a wall. She said it was near water, you might have been on a boat. There was a cat."

"Oh yeah. The Wedding Wall." I said almost absently, "On the Ferry."

"You got married!" Jasper exclaimed, pulling me into another hug. "Where is she? I want to meet the little vamp tramp that managed to get into your cock-blocking chastity belt."

I blinked, letting the words sink in. "Oh she's um...she's not..."

"What is he doing here?"

The venom behind the voice shocked me, and I felt myself cringing. Bella stepped into the main suit, clad in nothing but a skimpy green bikini, but even with the sheer lack of clothing, she still radiated pure ice.

"This is my brother," I said, baffled by her obvious hatred. "Jasper. I told you about my brother."

I cringed deeper as Bella let loose a cold, dark laugh, her fingers curling around the door frame, a grip so tight her knuckles were white. "Your...oh my God, this can't be happening!"

"Bella?" Jasper said, stepping in from the balcony, his golden eyes wide.

"Wait?" I said, stopping him from coming any closer, my hand pressed against his chest. "You guys know each other?"

Tearing her heated glare from Japer, Bella turned to me, her mouth open to speak, but the words never came as she went tumbling to the floor in a dead faint.

**A/N I am going to evilly leave it here. **


	22. Possessivepire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 22/?**

**Author: Lifelesslyndsey**

**Category: Twilight**

**Pairing: Bella x Peter**

**Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.**

**Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons**

**Word Count: 3,409**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Beta: The darling VampishVixen who lets me whore around and come crawling back to her.**

**A/N **Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting. I know you all pretty much wanted to shank me after the last chapter. So, I've made this one a bit longer. Hope you like. You guys were seriously kicking with reviews last time, I got twice as many as I normally do. Which made for a very happy lyndsey.

For all you Hit and Run Readers, I will be updating that story shortly, but probably not very often until this story is done. I'm figuring around 30 chapers for this story, so not much longer and then Hit and Run will be my main focus.

Also, Once Bitten Twice Shy has been nominated for an Glosp Award. And I've been nominated for Best Author award. I don't expect to win best author, because I'm not nearly as popular as most, but I'd like to see Once Bitten take home an award. It's been a long ride, it's been fun, you guys have been awesome, but we're nearing the end, aren't we? Lets see if we can't end with a bang. I'd like to end with 2000 reviews, if I can. That would probably just...I'd pee myself. Voting will open on the 14th. I'll remind you guys later, and give you the link to vote.

****

**Previously on OBTS**

_"This is my brother," I said, baffled by her obvious hatred. "Jasper. I told you about my brother."_

_I cringed deeper as Bella let loose a cold, dark laugh, her fingers curling around the door frame, a grip so tight her knuckles were white. "Your...oh my God, this can't be happening!"_

_"Bella?" Jasper said, stepping in from the balcony, his golden eyes wide._

_"Wait?" I said, stopping him from coming any closer, my hand pressed against his chest. "You guys know each other?"_

_Tearing her heated glare from Japer, Bella turned to me, her mouth open to speak, but the words never came as she went tumbling to the floor in a dead faint._

**Now on OBTS**

Jasper waited patiently on the balcony as I saw to Bella, and managed to put some clothes on. She was breathing steady, her pale skin clammy, still damp from her shower. I pulled a pair of jeans on in haste, returning to my brother with an expression that could only be read as_ 'what the fuck?'_

"Explain."

Jasper sighed, leaning against the balcony edge. "We met Bella seven years ago, in a small town outside of Seattle. We'd been living there for a few years when she showed up causing all kinds of problems. She was my brother's singer-"

"Edward is your brother?"

Jasper looked up from where he had been staring at the terra-cotta plant in the corner. "She told you?"

"She didn't like to talk about it," I replied cautiously. "The subject was more or less avoided. I know that she was...with a vampire. He left her, things got bad."

"Not just for her," Jasper replied wearily. "Our family loved Bella. But...Peter, you have to understand! We'd...she'd damn near died too many times with us. After the Nomad, we were all cautious. But then her birthday...and I...it was too much for me! Bella may not talk about it, but we don't talk about it either. It's torn our family apart. They'd all like to blame me, but they know they can't. Even if I had been able to control my own blood lust, there was no way I could control the cumulative effects of six other vampires. I could taste her in my mouth like she was my own singer. And I could have killed her, if I really wanted to. You know as well as I do, that six vampires could never stop me."

"She doesn't blame you," I said absently, "or she's said as much. Like I said, she doesn't like to talk about it. I heard about the nomad, and the birthday incident. But..."

"What Edward did was fucking ridiculous," Jasper supplied. "We didn't know his intentions until it was too late. I told you my wife is a Seer, well Edward mustn't have made up his mind, because she only thought they were there to talk. Edward's a manipulative bastard, and he worked that one over all of us."

"You guys didn't come back for her!" I exclaimed, only slightly happy that they didn't. Had they, I might have never found Bella. "She just...when I met her, Jasper...she was almost...empty. It was nothing but sarcasm and bitterness, and lots and lots of pills."

"We...agreed, after a fashion that maybe it was better. I know Edward was a total dickhole. He spouted on about having to break her, so she'd hate him. Apparently he succeeded."

"A little too well," I scoffed. "She's not going to be happy to see you, do you realize this? If there is anything I've learned about Bella in the last several months, it's that she hates you guys. The lengths she was willing to go to keep herself hidden from you...it impressed even me."

"I wouldn't blame her!" Jasper sighed. "She really loved us, all of us, not even just my fuck of a brother, Edward. You have to realize I wasn't...permitted...to know Bella. I'd never been left alone with her, nor had I really been given any opportunity to learn her. Most was of my own accord, I was frightened of hurting her. My control is impeccable, but it's still affected by the smallest things. But even so, I knew things about her, her shifts in emotion that others didn't. She really loved us. Even me."

"And you left her," I replied shortly. "In the woods, in the rain. Edward left her in the goddamn woods, Jasper. Woods that vampires are known to run in. God, whatever he did to her, whatever he said, it broke her. She tried to kill herself...more than once, I think. When she met me, I think it was half her hope I'd kill her."

Jasper cringed beneath my sudden upheaval of fury, and I couldn't be bothered to care. "We looked for her! We did! But...Alice said that she couldn't get a grip on the visions. They were watery, suffocating. And every time she'd come close, it would just go black."

"Probably the medication she was on," I sighed, dropping my head into my hands. "She was doing so much better. She's been weaning herself off the medications. She's been...happy, with me. And you're going to ruin it."

"No!" Jasper said abruptly, "I want her to be happy, we all do. I'll leave, if you want. Only..."He paused, looking up at the dark sky line. "Could I apologize?"

"I don't know what good it will do," I replied, "but yeah, you can."

"Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad I found you. I've been looking for you too."

**xXxXxXx**

"Bella?" I whispered, brushing a damp curl from her cheek. "Bella, wake up for me."

"Mmhmm," she hummed, turning her head to kiss my palm. "No."

"Why?" I asked, forcing back a smile.

"Because he's still here," she grumbled. "I can't do this, Peter. I can't see them."

"It's just Jasper," I reminded her quietly. "He wants to apologize."

Bella heaved herself upward slowly, shaking her head. "He doesn't need to. I know that he wouldn't hurt me; that he didn't really want to. But I don't want to see him."

"Do you want him to leave?" I asked hesitantly, pulling a soft, fluffy blanket from the end of the couch and tucking it around her. "I can ask him to leave, if you'd like."

"No," she replied, surprising me. "Oh come off it Peter. You're so stupidly excited to see him, you're practically fucking twitching. I know how much you love your brother, even if I didn't know it was Jasper. I'm not going to take that away from you. So go on and have manpire time, I'm gonna go to bed early."

"Bella..."

"Go hunting, or something. Just...don't make me talk to him, okay?" she pleaded, linking our hands. "I'm not upset that you want to see him, okay? I'm not. Jasper isn't the bad guy...not really. And I know how much you wanted to find him. So just...don't let me ruin that for you."

"It's a bit early to go to bed," I noted, pulling her up from the couch.

She shrugged, "I'll take a nap, maybe get up later and order room service or soak in the tub."

Stepping back out by the balcony, Bella stiffened, her hand clenching in mine.

"Bella-" Jasper began, stopping short at the combined effects of my head-shake, and Bella's angry little death glare.

"No," she said shortly. "I'll be in the room. Wake me up when you get back in?"

Kissing her shortly, I let her leave, closing the doors behind her.

"She hates me," Jasper said sullenly.

"Yeah, probably," I replied, grabbing my shirt and shoes from where I dropped them. "You hungry?"

"I could eat, yeah."

**xXxXxXxXx**

It was awkward, of course.

We'd changed, finding our paradigm shifts in the form of small girls. Alice had changed him, leading him down the road to redemption. Bella had done very much the same for me. But underneath it, he was no less the bastard cowboy I had left behind, and I no less the neurotic, socially inept, awkward angel.

"How did you two meet?" Jasper asked, wiping his mouth of blood. Indiana didn't offer much in the way of variety, but blood was blood at this point.

I laughed, recalling the day in the grocery store. "I was buying cat-food...and she was just...there. Staring at me. It freaked me out! So I followed her, and she just...ignored me, blatantly. Which you know, kind of made me mad. By the time I had it in my head to follow her and kill her, she was already gone."

"You were going to kill her?" Jasper asked alarm obvious in his voice.

I shrugged. It was the truth. "Well, yeah. She knew too much Jasper. As a vampire, it's kind of our obligation to keep the fucking secret. Something your whole goddamn clan couldn't manage. So yeah, I was going to kill her."

"Yeah," he said at length. "I was going to kill her too. Before I knew her, of course," he added hastily. "When we realized she was Edward's singer, I thought about smothering her in her sleep, maybe. Just a little."

"Yeah," I said slowly, eyeing him warily. "Anyways. By the time I had thought to follow her, she was gone. But then while I was scoping out my monthly meal, I ran into her. Not literally, but I saw her car, picked up her scent. I followed her that time."

"She smells different," Jasper added in suddenly, stepping over the dead deer carcass. "It's...off."

"It's the medication. She's off most of it, but what she's still on makes her smell a bit like floor cleaner." I explained. "Anyway, like I was saying, I followed her that time. And she blew a fucking tire! I...I was really going to kill her, I think. She was standing there, fighting with her spare tire, and it rolls out of her car, and bounces off into the fucking woods. Then she's on the phone ripping into Triple A, and I just...I couldn't do it."

"What did you do?" Jasper asked, sinking down against the tree, his cowboy boot-covered feet crossed at the ankles, the picture of ease.

"I changed her tire," I said shortly, and as expected, he laughed. "I know! I mean, what the fuck? She just...bitched at me until I changed her tire, so I did. You have to realize that my social interaction was pretty much limited to pre-dinner conversation, if you catch my meaning. So I wasn't sure what to make of her. So...I changed her tire. She left. I followed."

"And clearly you didn't kill her, so what did you do next?" He asked, obviously interested. I flopped down onto the ground, leaning against my own tree.

"I hid in a tree outside her house for a week." I admitted, with a sheepish expression. "Not something I am insanely proud of, of course. But I was just so...baffled. She was an ordinary human, maybe a little shut-in, and paranoid, but a human. She called me out on it after a week. She freaking saw me, and I'm a stealthy little bitch, you and I both know it."

Jasper nodded once, "True," he replied. "You never could be found if you didn't want to. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised you stuck around with Maria as long as you did."

"Didn't know much else, did I?" I lied. "Anyways, she just...invited me in. Like it was nothing. Which should have been a clue that she was fucking crazy. But...I didn't really know how to gauge those things. I was still pretty sure I was going to kill her." I laughed. "We talked, mainly; she made fun of me for my social ineptitude, while I reminded her that it was pretty much a case of the kettle calling the pot black. After that...we just...stuck."

"How do you go from that, to... married?" Jasper asked, raising a brow. "She has your name tattooed on her ass, for fucks sake."

"No part of you should have noticed that, thank you very much," I said with my own impressive eyebrow. "Why were you even looking at her ass?"

He shrugged, "She's filled out a bit since last I saw her. Maybe I was just cataloging differences."

"Right. Bastard. Anyway...I don't know how it happened. Slowly. Abruptly. It's hard to tell now. We spent every fucking day together. And then...she saved my life." I silenced him with a look, not entirely in the mood to deal with any kind of mocking. "I was working a job, dealing with this disgusting guy, Jasper. I'm telling you, he lived in squalor. The stench...well let's just say it was bad enough that I couldn't smell that he was already dead."

"You drank from a dead guy?" Jasper asked, his cringe visible. "Fuck."

"Yeah, it was bad. I was sick as fuck. Some how I managed to call Bella, and she got me out of the house, and blew the fucker up. I would have died, you know. But she...she gutted a fucking pet store rabbit and forced the blood down my throat."

"Jesus," Jasper breathed. "And from what I recall, Bella ain't much one for blood."

"No, she's not." I agreed. "After that...well, it just...escalated. I was already head over heels for her, and she told me that I'd scared the shit out of her and that...well. I don't know. But that was a turning point. It wasn't much after that we started this road-trip. I love her more every day."

"She's changed a lot," Jasper said, pulling himself up to his feet. "She doesn't feel like she use to. And it's all a little bitter, except for you. She loves you. More than she ever loved Edward. She's older now, it makes a difference."

"A harsh introduction to the world will do that to you," I replied in kind. "Come on, let's get back. I don't like leaving her."

**xXxXxXx**

"I said get the fuck out!" Bella's voice rang out from the balcony, followed by the distinct sound of smashed ceramic.

"Bella?" I called out in a panic, a growl slipping through my lips as I was hit with the scent of another fucking vampire. Jaspers forceful hand gripped my shoulder, old habits forcing me to obey.

"It's my brother." He said quietly. "He won't hurt her."

"That's not really the point, is it?" I snapped, shoving him off me. Bella was in the sitting room, a small ceramic vase clutched in her hand. The brother, Edward, stood adjacent, his eyes pleading.

"Isabella please," he said, as if to continue an old argument. "Stop throwing things, you're only going to hurt yourself."

"I don't want you here! Just...go! Peter will be back soon, and you don't want to be here when he returns," Bella warned. Smart girl.

The Edward fellow scoffed, rolling his gold eyes. "Oh I think I do. What were you thinking, Bella? Taking up with a vampire. Did we teach you nothing?"

"You taught me that you're a goddamn mother fucking ass hat, that better fucking leave. Right the fuck now!" Bella screeched, hurling the vase at Edward's head. He dodged it easily, shaking his head with a condescending smile.

"Really Bella, you know better," he replied. "Won't you just talk to me?"

"I have nothing to say to you Edward Cullen. You need to leave before my husband gets back," she said coldly, dropping her arms, hands shaking.

"Husband?"

I'd had enough, of course, and chose that moment to ghost into the room, stopping at Bella's side. "Yes. Her husband. I believe she asked you to leave."

Jasper stepped into the devastated room, shattered glass sparkling from the floor. It was, I realized, not the safest place for Bella to be. "You should go, Edward. She doesn't want us here. How did you even know? I didn't even know."

"Alice had a vision, of you and your _other_ brother," Edward sneered. "She said she could hear Bella...but only vaguely. It was enough." The asspire in question returned his gaze to me. "I can't hear you."

Confused by the statement, I looked to Bella for aid, who was at this point, grinning like a retard. "What's he talking about?"

"I think he means he can't read your mind," she smirked. "Just like he can't read my mind. It must fucking kill you, Edward."

"What's wrong with you, Bella?" he asked, his voice genuinely concerned. "You were never like this before."

"You can't figure that out by yourself?" I growled, pulling Bella tighter. "You did this to her, you fucking idiot."

"Peter," Bella said, laying a warm hand on my chest. "It's okay. I'm okay. No need to go Tarzan-grunt-grunt over me, 'kay?"

I shrugged, keeping one hand hooked possessively around her waist, something I was sure did not go unnoticed. "I know."

Jasper lingered cautiously at the door way, clearly reading to spring into action if need be, something I greatly appreciated. Edward tugged at his hair, his exasperation as obvious as his love for melodrama. "Bella, all I ever wanted was to hold on to you tighter, but sometimes the only option is to let go."

Bella rolled her eyes, waving her hand flippantly. "God Edward, I'm not a fart. I'm a person. With opinions. Lots of them, actually."

The bastard stepped forward, stopping short as I growled. I could feel his eyes trace the white edges of my battle-scars, just as intimidating as Jasper's. He faltered, standing still as he spoke. "I only did what was best for you, why can't you understand that? We...we wouldn't have worked. You would have gotten hurt."

"That's not how it works. Relationships are give and take." Bella explained, speaking as if she were talking to a small child. "You see Edward, in this relationship Peter and I have mastered working together. Peanut butter and jelly. Ham and cheese. I'm the thunder and he's the lightning."

I smirked, unable to hold back my own comment. "What she means is she always comes first."

"Peter," Bella admonished through a smile.

"Sorry."

"You mean..." Edward's eyes were comically wide. "You can't!"

"He has. Regularly," Bella replied. "Nightly. Daily. He can, and he does. We are married after all."

"That's dangerous," Edward growled. "Do you care so little about her?"

Now, he was getting on my nerves. I cared a hell of lot more than he ever did. Enough to...

_To give up Heaven. _

"You shut your fucking mouth before I rip it off your fucking face, little boy," I growled, the rare dominant possessive side of me flaring up. "I'd never hurt her. Never wanted to. She's bled all over me, and I drove her to the hospital _myself_. So shut your fucking mouth, because you don't know what you're talking about."

A warm hand wrapped around my forearm, "Easy there, Tarzan. Jane okay," she said with a smile. "But he's right Edward. Peter's never hurt me."

"That's not the point!" Edward cried. "Vampires are dangerous, Bella! Why don't you understand that! We're not...this isn't how it's meant to be. Why couldn't you just date a human male?"

Bella shrugged, absent-mindedly picking lint of my shirt. I could almost feel the humor coming off of Jasper as he watched the scene from the door. "Dating a vampire means I'll never hear the words _'get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich'_. It's a win for Woman Kind."

"Bella!" Edward huffed, with the kind of exasperated tone you'd have expect him to stomp his foot like a little bitch. "This isn't a joking matter."

"I personally find it hilarious," Jasper offered. "You're being a bitch, Edward. Just give it up."

"No," he replied shortly. "This isn't right. This isn't why I left her."

Having heard enough, I stepped forward, my arm still wrapped around Bella. "But that's just it. You left her. Whatever happens after that? You have no say."

"I think you should leave now, Edward," Bella said calmly. "I'm safe, I'm happy, isn't that what you wanted?"

"But you're not safe!" he whined, looking like he wanted nothing more than to step forward. I bared my teeth without a thought; intent to protect what I believed was mine. "See, exactly. He's a fucking animal."

"He's less a danger than you ever were to me, Edward Cullen," Bella said shortly. "I want you to leave. I won't ask again."

"Leave now, or you'll be leaving in pieces," I added. "I fought with Jasper, you know. I know every move he does; every scar you see, I earned. I _will_ remove you by force, if I have to."

"Guys," Jasper said, flipping his phone closed. "There may be a problem."

"What?" Bella snapped, clearly drained.

"The Family is on their way."

**A/N I totally did it again, didn't I? I'm evil.**


	23. Manpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 23/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 2,443

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Beta of my heart, VampishVixen, who always seems to be there when I need her.

**Previously on OBTS**

_**"He's less a danger than you ever were to me, Edward Cullen," Bella said shortly. "I want you to leave. I won't ask again."**_

_**"Leave now, or you'll be leaving in pieces," I added. "I fought with Jasper, you know. I know every move he does; every scar you see, I earned. I will remove you by force, if I have to."**_

_**"Guys," Jasper said, flipping his phone closed. "There may be a problem."**_

_**"What?" Bella snapped, clearly drained.**_

_**"The Family is on their way."**_

**And now on OBTS...**

Bella's hand wrapped around my arm in a frail death grip, her eyes wide, but oddly blank. "When?" she asked. The question was thrown at Jasper, though she wasn't looking anywhere in particular.

"They're in Rhode Island, so...about five hours, most likely." He paused, staring at the floor. "You know how they like to drive."

Pulling Bella close to me, I let her hide her face against my chest. "We can leave, if you want. We can just...go. Nowhere in particular," I said quietly, my mouth pressed against her hair.

"I should just..." she sighed, her warm breath rushing against my chest. "I don't feel so good. Can I lie down?"

"Of course you can, Bella." Edward interjected, before I could even move.

Looking up and over Bella's head, I glared at Edward. "She wasn't talking to you, Edward. And I think we both know that. Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut?"

"There no need to be so aggressive, Peter'" Edward replied, haughtiness creeping into his otherwise normal tone. "We both want what's best for Bella; we have that in common."

"The difference being I _ask_," I argued. "Do you want me to wake you up in a bit? I can get our bags in the car."

"No," she murmured. "We'll stay. It was going to happen eventually, I always knew that. I just...wish it didn't." She bent down, scooping up Peen, who had wrapped himself around her ankles in a pathetic attempt at protectiveness. I appreciated the effort.

"If that's what you want," I replied, quietly, kissing softly, if not pointedly, on the mouth. "I'll wake you up in a few hours. You want me to order you something from room service?"

"Mmm," she hummed, stroking her hand down Peen's back. "Waffles. With the fluffy cream cheese and blueberries."

She disappeared into the bedroom, closing the double doors behind her. Silence echoed in the room, nothing but the shift of seven-hundred thread count cotton, as Bella fought for a comfortable position.

"So," Jasper said at length, his cowboy boots scuffing the floor. "This is kind of awkward."

"It would have been fine, had Edward not invited himself to crash my honeymoon," I replied stiffly, glaring at the Vampire in question. "What the fuck would make you think you were welcome?"

"I love Bella," Edward replied in kind. "When Alice couldn't find her...you don't understand how hard that was for me."

"I understand that you left her alone in the fucking woods. You just...left her. Abandoned her. Intentionally fucking hurt her, so she would hate you. You got what you want Edward, she hates you. Don't you get it?" I asked. "She fucking hates you."

"But I love her," he replied, much to my irritation. "She's...everything to me."

"Not anymore. Not after what you did. Do you even...do you even understand? Do you even fucking get what you did to her? You didn't just leave her, you fuckwit, you abandoned her, and took everyone with you," I growled. "I get that you had her best interest at heart. I get that, I do! But...your intentions? A crock of shit. You didn't help her, you hurt her. More than a vampire ever could."

Edward sighed, "I don't even see how that's possible. She couldn't have been worse off away from a whole family of vampires."

"Try adolescent werewolves," I threw at him. "You know about the Quileute pack, you were there the last time." It was true, I knew that much. Edward had been there when the treaty was formed. "And you want to know the irony? They took better care of Bella than you ever did. They picked up and pieced back together what you broke."

Edward growled, his pretty boy persona cracking with frustration. "She was better off!"

I snatched her purse off the key-table, up-ending it on the end table in a fit of fury. Alongside a plethora of random crap, innumerable orange bottles spilled out, rolling off the table, clicking against the floor, one after another. "Does this look better off to you, Edward? Does this look safe and happy to you?"

Edward's eyes were wide, and even Jasper looked surprised. I snatched the brightly colored Pez dispenser, Bella's little joke, and opened it, revealing a rainbow line of pill after pill. "These are what she takes daily. She's taking about half of what she did when I met her. Anti-depressants, anti-psychotic, uppers, downers, sleep-aids. She couldn't even sleep, Edward. Couldn't think. Couldn't function." I shut the candy-container, dropping it back into the bag, before crouching to gather up the fallen things. "She drove her truck of a cliff. She tried to kill herself. Does that seem like she was better off?"

Sweeping the rest of Bella's things from the table into her purse, I sighed, waiting for something. "It doesn't fucking matter. She shouldn't have to go through this. And before you even say it, Jasper, don't."

Jasper sighed, saying it anyways. "If I wouldn't have come..."

I laughed, cold and hard. "You didn't know. How could you? There are how many people? How many vampires? What are the fucking odds? It doesn't matter, it's done."

Edward frowned. "You make it sound like a bad thing. The family...they miss her. They want her back. We've looked for Bella, all of us. We want her back."

The choked sorrow in his voice was as easily felt by me as it was by Jasper. I knew that he regretted leaving Bella, though his regret was mostly selfish. The regret had festered, rotted into a sick and twisted longing. I realized that he couldn't see how she'd changed because he hadn't changed at all. He loved her just as much as he did the day he met her, the day he left. He couldn't fathom that she wouldn't love him, even if it was what he wanted.

He honestly believed they belonged together.

It made me angry that I felt bad for the ass hat, felt bad that he'd sacrificed so stupidly something so priceless. It made me angry that I felt bad for him because he just didn't get it. He'd run a mile with every inch he received. I was suddenly glad that Bella had made her intentions known to the best of her ability which seemed to include throwing things at his head. Any leniency, and forgiveness, and he'd probably believe he had a chance.

And that really wouldn't fucking do, now would it?

"Stop right there," I said, before he could start talking again. "It doesn't work like that. You all don't just get to walk back into her life and reinsert yourselves. You don't belong in Bella's life anymore. You are not a part of it, and neither are they, if she doesn't want them. They don't get a say in that, they don't deserve expectations. They can't take her back, she's not a fucking sweater someone borrowed." I paused, stepping forward to close the gap between him and me, coming close enough to shake him if I had the sudden urge. And you, Edward, you need to understand something. You need to get it in your fucking head right now that Bella is married. _To me_. She's not available by any means, and even if she was? She doesn't love you anymore. You do not matter to her; you do not fit in _our_ life. You are not _our_ friend. You are not _our_ anything. You are nothing to us. She is my wife, for better or for worse, and I expect you to respect that. Do you understand?"

He said nothing, standing frozen before me, his eyes narrowed and hard. He wanted to fight, wanted to argue, but his eyes darted along my neck and jaw, at the cautionary tale I never fully appreciated until that fucking moment. "Don't you understand?"

"It's not for you to decide," he said, echoing my sentiment, the hint of mocking haughtiness not lost on anyone in the room. With sick-as-fuck half smirk, he continued, "It's Bella's choice."

And fuck, that was just too much for me. It was just too much. He'd pushed me too far, pushed Bella too far. He expected...I don't know what, but he hadn't expected me to wrap my hand around his mouth, razor-nails biting into his cheeks, leaving smears of black venom-curdled blood marring the pristine white skin. I lifted him by his face, slamming him _gently_ against the wall, cracking nothing but his jaw bone upon impact. His feet dangled a foot off the floor as I crushed him against the wall; my body seething with so much anger, that even Japer seemed to cringe.

"You think this is funny? You think this is a joke? I don't think you're getting it Edward. There is nothing, _nothing_, I wouldn't do for her." Raspy, quiet growls curled up in my chest, vibrating my lips as they escaped. "She made her choice when she married me. Let me spell it out for you, you fucking _child_. I will kill you if you so much as look at her wrong; I will rip your eyes out of your head, and shove them so far up your ass that you choke on them. I will rip out your tongue and burn it before your eyes, and let you live without it, should you so much as say one thing wrong to her. I will rip off your motherfucking fingers one by one, light them each on fire, and shove them down your throat if you touch her.

"I will do things to you that would make being in Maria's army look like a motherfucking funfair. I will kill you, Edward Cullen. Not swiftly, not with mercy. I will kill you slowly, painfully, and I will fucking enjoy every goddamn second of it. Now, I am going to ask you again. Do. You. Understand?" He remained silent, his mouth pinched between my fingers. "If you don't answer, I'm going to assume you don't understand, and then I'm going to split you open, rip out your insides, and make you eat them one by fucking one. Then I'm going to ask you again."

"I understand!" Edward choked out, looking down at me with panic-filled eyes. I let my nails bite into his jaw, tearing parallel strips of flesh from his face as I dropped him to the floor. I turned away, intent on returning to Bella, intent on getting the fuck away from him. "What if...what if she chooses me?" he asked stupidly, a confusing contradicting combination of caution and boldness filling his voice.

I didn't even bother to turn as I replied, already heading towards the bedroom. Jasper stood in the corner, perfectly content to let me say my piece. I wondered where his faith really laid; in me, or in Edward. I didn't want to ask him, didn't want to test that faith. "I'll still probably kill you," I said, with deadly seriousness. "But I don't think she will."

"I could kill you," he replied with dark petulance, his ego bruised.

I spun on my heels in a white-blur of motion, wrapping my hands around his throat. Spitting a mouthful of venom at his face, I growled as the freshly torn flesh hissed and scarred. "I'd like to see you try, little boy."

Without another word, I turned back to the bedroom, a smile curling my face as I heard Jasper growl, his deadly-calm voice nothing but a whisper as he ripped into his _other_ brother.

"I wouldn't fucking dare, Edward Cullen," he hissed. "You attack him like that, and I'll rip your head off myself, got it? You may be my brother, but so is Peter, and he'd never attack someone from behind like a goddamn little pussy. You want to be a man, act like one. But that shit? That shit ain't kosher little boy. What would Esme think? What would Carlisle think of his Golden Boy? Damn. You need to get your ass together before they get here; they don't need to see you acting like a goddamn little bitch.

**xXxXxXxXx **

__I slipped quietly into the room, no sound save for the echo of the double-door latch as it clicked shut, and locked. Bella was out cold, her breathing slow and steady. I watched her chest rise and fall, the rhythmic lull luring me to a steady calm. Peen was nested comfortably in her hair, his wet, pink nose pressed against her cheek.

I slipped into the bathroom, the scent of Bella hanging heavy in the damp air. In truth, I was shocked at myself. I had never been as aggressive as most vampires naturally were, even as one of Maria's warriors. I wasn't made for anger, for the fight. I'd always been better, especially given my gift, for tactical purposes; planning and logic. As I have said before, I was, or at least I had been, always the thinker. Never the doer.

But I didn't doubt for a second that I'd rip out Edward's throat with a smile on my bloody face if he so much as blinked wrong.

I twisted the faucets at the sink, letting the curdled black blood be sluiced away in deep red rivets, momentarily staining the pristine porcelain sink pink. His blood smelled awful, heavier maybe, coagulated chunks clinging to my skin in a way that neither human nor animal blood ever did. I held my breath as it washed away, watching the swirl of pink disappear down the skin.

"Peter?" Bella's voice called out, sleep-rough and worn, from the bedroom. I found her half-sitting, her hair clinging with static to the pillow case. "What are you doing?"

"Coming to see you. You don't have to get up yet, but I couldn't stand another moment in there with him," I replied quietly, toeing of my shoes and slipping into bed beside her.

"He's kind of a pompous ass, isn't he?" she replied quietly, no doubt knowing full well that he could hear her. "I suppose he has his redeeming qualities, I just can't remember any of them." She shrugged, throwing her bare leg over mine. "Esme loves him."

"Someone has to," I replied, pressing a smile against her shoulder. "Get some sleep. It's only been half an hour."

"Mmm," she hummed sleepily, fingers tapping against my stomach.

A moment later I realized with a laugh, that she was humming 'The Final Countdown'.

A/N Bahaha! No Cullen Family Drama in this chapter. Unless you count Peter-Edward drama. Peter says RAWR I KEEL YOU! Edward says NOOO, DON'T KEEL ME!


	24. Preachpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 24/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 3, 226

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Beta of my heart, VampishVixen, who always seems to be there when I need her.**

**A/N I've been busting out chapters like Michelle Dugger busts out babies. One after a freaking nother. Anyways, this one's a bit longer. We finally see a little Cullen action, at last, at last. Leave me things. You guys are awesome.**

**Previously on OBTS**

_"Coming to see you. You don't have to get up yet, but I couldn't stand another moment in there with him," I replied quietly, toeing off my shoes and slipping into bed beside her._

_"He's kind of a pompous ass, isn't he?" she replied quietly, no doubt knowing full well that he could hear her. "I suppose he has his redeeming qualities, I just can't remember any of them." She shrugged, throwing her bare leg over mine. "Esme loves him."_

_"Someone has to," I replied, pressing a smile against her shoulder. "Get some sleep. It's only been half an hour."_

_"Mmm," she hummed sleepily, fingers tapping against my stomach._

_A moment later I realized with a laugh, that she was humming 'The Final Countdown'._

**Currently on OBTS**

It was still dark when I eased my way out of bed. Five hours had past, but they'd be late, and I told Jasper as much, ignoring Edward's presence entirely.

"They were fighting," I said, setting down the en-suite phone, after ordering Bella her waffles. "Your wife isn't pleased that Edward manipulated her. But it held them back about an hour. The blonde one...Rosalie? She isn't coming, not that it matters, I think." I dropped heavily onto the couch, watching as both Edward and Jasper did the same with equal measures of caution. Though I suspect there reasons were different, as I had no intentions of choking Jasper with his own entrails.

Jasper's golden eyes shot to the brother in questions, "What did you do, Edward?"

Giving Edward no time to speak, I replied. "Nothing harmful. He recognized her thinking-pattern to be secretive, so to speak. He...seems to have found a way around that. It's nothing nefarious; he just cycles through subjects, picking out which ones flair in Alice's mind. When he mentioned you, he saw part of our conversation, and must have picked up our location. And I think he used the GPS on your phone, to be honest."

"How do you know that?" Edward snapped, wide eyed. "You can't know that."

Jasper chuckled, somewhat maliciously, as he informed his brother otherwise. "Peter's gift is special. I'm assuming you noticed he has no scent?" Jasper asked, getting nothing but a nod in return. "He's...his whole make up is evasive. It's impossible to track him, to trace him. He doesn't register to our vampire senses. And he's somewhat immune to most other Gifts. I have very little effect on him, and it took Alice sixty years of trying to find him to get anything useful." Jasper gave me a fond smile, making me miss him all the more. "But those things...it's almost as if it's part of his make up, rather than a gift. His gift is different. He can't see the future or past, or read minds, he just knows."

Edward looked irritated, and increasingly so. "Knows what?" he snapped, his glare sharpening.

"Everything," I replied with my own smirk. "Well, pretty close. There are exceptions, occasionally things change and shift beyond my knowledge. I have a harder time knowing what's going to happen when it comes to vampires, but humans? Humans are easy. Think of it as...precognitive knowledge. It's ingrained in me."

Edward looked contemplative, "So, what? You know everything there is to know about Bella?"

"That's where it gets tricky," I sighed, because yeah, not knowing what Bella's future held, ate away at me. "She's tied herself too tightly to Vampires. I couldn't even get a good grip on what happened to her past."

"How does it work?" Edward asked, looking for all the world like he couldn't believe what I was saying. The man was a fucking vampire who could read minds, and he was questioning the ability to know everything? "You can't...it can't work that way. Things change, and shift. People's decisions alter the future. Even Alice knows that."

Rolling my eyes at his haughty, petulant tone, I replied as easily as I could without revealing my true self. My patience for him was limited, really. He had no right to question me. "You have to consider the possibilities that there is an ultimate fate, so to speak. That our actions are leading up to something bigger, something final. That while the little things change, much of the story stays the same. What happens is meant to happen, and would have happened regardless of the choices we make."

"God," Edward said at last. "You're talking about God? How can you...how can you even...we're vampires!"

"That doesn't make us sinners," Jasper cut in, a little hint of Texas bleeding into his voice. "What we do makes us sinners."

"We kill people," Edward said, blinking his eyes. "We're vampires. We are the embodiment of evil."

Dammit. I didn't want to get into this with him. I didn't, but I had to, it was too deeply fucking ingrained into me not too. The little fucker obviously had some self esteem problems. I wanted nothing more than to leave him wallowing in his darkness, but I couldn't. Not when I knew the truth, not when it was my job, my ultimate fucking objective, to speak the Word of God to believers. And Edward was a believer. He was also a douchey little fucker, but he was a believer. And he believed himself damned.

"No one is inherently bad or good, Edward. We start out as blank slates, you know? Being a vampire doesn't make you evil, though it doesn't help make you good. You're..." Motherfucker. I didn't want to tell him he was a fucking bucket full of sunshine and sparkly rainbows, but the boy wasn't bad either. He was just a douchey little fucker.

"You're looking at it wrong," I said at last, feeling suddenly more tired. "Just because you've _killed_ people, doesn't mean you _kill _people. You don't start your day with the intentions of being a murderer. Some vampires do, yeah, but _you_ don't."

"And if you think that you represent the Vampire kind, you're more arrogant than I thought," Jasper interjected, giving Edward a pointed look. Which, really he deserved. Edward oozed arrogance. "You're just one vampire among many. Your choices are your own."

"What he said," I replied in kind. "Look. I can't see much, but I _know_ you're not a bad guy, Edward. Your kind of an asshole, and you've...I can see that you've made mistakes. But you repent, you regret them."

"And that makes it fine?" Edward growled, with more heat then I expected. "Just because I regret killing innocent fucking people, it makes it fine and fucking dandy?"

I blinked, casting Jasper an uncomfortable glance. "I...but you don't. You have, but...you're not actively killing people. And...regret doesn't make it better, but it's...it's all a part of forgiveness."

"Murderers don't deserve forgiveness," Edward said flatly. "Vampires don't have souls. We're monsters. That's that. I'm going for a hunt; ring me when the family gets in, okay?"

"Edward...what the fuck?" Jasper gave his brother a weird look. "Dude, we're not...like ganging up on you. I'm pretty sure Peter was defending you, somewhat. I know that...that this has always been a sensitive subject for you, but you're not bad. _We're_ not bad. Carlisle...he helped us all."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself to make up for what you did in the wars is your own business, Jasper. But you killed people, murdered _children_ in their beds. You _turned _people, made vampires, who killed more, and turned more. You created an army of monsters; you're worse than most. You damned them and let them damn others. You're the fucking _creators_ of evil. I don't have a soul, and you don't have a soul, and if we ever die, we're going to burn in fucking hell with all the other murderers and rapists, and soulless fucking people."

Something snapped in me upon seeing my brother's face just..._shatter_ in pain. "You little _fucker_," I hissed, lunging much faster than even I expected. That..._that _was it. I was going to fucking kill him, rip his goddamn fucking throat out of his goddamn fucking neck and-

And then a tiny little fist came out of _nowhere_.

"You little shit!" The tiniest vampire I had ever seen in my life slammed Edward in the face before I could even reach him. "How dare you talk to my husband that way, Edward Cullen! The only monster I see here is _you_."

"Alice!" Edward hissed, painfully, pitifully. "Please, please don't."

Jaspers wife lowered her fist, smoothing her hair and clothes with the palms of her hands before huffing. "Yes, well. You just...I'm telling Esme what you said."

Edward's eyes widened, his cringe viable. "Please, Alice. Please, I am begging you, don't tell Esme."

"What's an Esme?" I asked in a whisper, coming to stand by Jasper as I watched his wife berate Edward.

"Our mother," Jasper replied with a pained grimace. "I don't want to be here for that."

"It's very nice to meet you, Peter," the tiny vampire said, between manhandling Edward into the corner chair. "I've heard so much about you."

"I...uh. Good to meet you too, I guess," I replied awkwardly, reverting to my old ways. I wondered if I'd be as socially inept as always, if Bella was just some sort of anomaly. It wouldn't surprise me.

"We'll talk later," she assured me, slamming her fist into Edward sternum as he fell into the chair. "I've been looking for you much too long to miss the opportunity to meet my brother-in-law."

I turned to the husband in question, feeling stabbing trickles of his pain bleed into the air. I was close enough to feel it, no matter how well he was fighting to reign in his pain. "You're not, you know," I said quietly. "You're no more a monster than I am, Jasper."

He nodded, swallowing hard. "I know," he said shortly, looking away from his wife and brother. "But what he said...it isn't untrue. We did those things."

"We did," I conceded. "But it isn't who we are. We walked away from that lifestyle, we found our own redemption."

"In the form of small, angry brunettes," Jasper replied with a small smile. "Bella really has changed you."

"For the better, I hope," I replied, turning my head as room service knocked on the door. "Your family will be here soon. You should probably break that up before she kills him." I gestured loosely where his wife had backed Edward against the carved marble fireplace, poking him stiffly in the chest. Her mouth wasn't moving, but Edward nodded sharply. "That's weird."

"After sixty something years, you get use to it," Jasper replied with a tired sigh.

**xXxXxXxXx**

I set the tray on the bedside table, moving to sit beside Bella as she slept. "Bella," I spoke gently. "I've brought bribes in the form of waffles."

"Blueberry?" she replied sleepily, looking up through a curtain of messy curls. "Smells good."

"To you maybe," I replied, moving the tray from the table to the bed as she sat up, brushing hair from her face. "Jasper's wife is here. I believe she's currently berating Edward into a grateful grave."

Methodically cutting her blueberry drenched waffles into neat squares, Bella sniffed. "What did he do this time?"

Nudging Peen out of the way, I leaned back against the headboard. "He said some rather hurtful things to Jasper and I. Alice must have Seen it. She came out of nowhere. Probably good too, because I really wanted to kill him."

"Please don't," she said, sounding almost as if the request pained her. It might have. It would have pained me. "As much as I hate him, and I really, really do, he doesn't deserve death."

With a put out sigh, I nodded. "No, no he doesn't. But...he's not right. He's very sad, Bella. I know that losing you, and I made it very clear that you were lost to him, was very hard on him. But...I don't know. I can't put my finger on it."

"It's not our problem," Bella replied tersely. "His family can take care of him."

Pressing a kiss into her hair, I sighed. "I know. Are you gonna get through this okay? You've been doing so good...I don't know how you were before. Back then. But I know you've been even happier, more open, since we first met."

She smiled, laying her head on my shoulder, and linking our fingers. "That's less about the pills, and more about you, I think. I'll be okay. I had to deal with this eventually, or it would have haunted me forever. It's a small damn world though."

**xXxXxXxXx**

The atmosphere in suite 309 was suffocating. My nerves were shot between protecting Bella, and the fact that I was in a very small room with six other vampires, something I was no longer accustom too. Bella stayed by my side, curling into me, her face pressed against my ribs. Peen stared out from the cradle of her arms, sharp yellow eyes trained on the Cullen Clan.

"Bella," Esme said, her gold eyes wide. Bella turned away again, refusing to even look at them. I had never seen her so...so meek. Human or not, she'd never seemed so fucking defenseless. Esme stepped forward, her hand outstretched as if to embrace, Bella, who only cringed further.

"No," I shook my head sharply. "I'm sorry, but no. It...it can't work like that. She doesn't want to see you; she's doing this to...to appease whatever questions you had. She doesn't want to talk to you. Any questions you have, I'll answer, to the best of my ability. Bella doesn't need this."

", I presume?" The Patriarch spoke. Dr. Cullen was a formidable man, a good man for all that I could see. "We've spent years looking for her, since she left Forks. We worried, we...you have to understand we didn't want to leave. We only wanted what was best. I've come to understand through my daughter Alice, that perhaps we...we chose wrong."

"Did it ever occur to you that she didn't want to be found?" I asked flatly. "Apologies will only get you so far, and it's not my place to say you deserve them. What you did-"

"Peter," Bella interjected tiredly. "What you did was abandon me. All of you. You called me your daughter, and you left me behind. You left me behind when I would have died for you, when I very nearly did. This? This reunion...it doesn't mean anything. You can apologize if you want, and I'll forgive you, but it doesn't...it doesn't change a thing."

"We are sorry," Carlisle replied. "We've been sorry every day. It was a mistake to come here, to do this to you, and for that, I'm sorry too. We don't want to see you hurt. You're very sick, aren't you?"

"What?" I said sharply, my eyes leaving the good Doctor, to settle on Bella, who looked no more or less weary as she considered the question.

"I have an immunodeficiency; hematic clotting disorder," she replied evenly. "Among other things. It isn't life threatening."

"Is that why you smell funny?" The other male asked. "You smell like dish soap."

Bella chuckled. "It's the meds, they make my blood funky."

"A pity," the vampire, _Emmett_ my mind echoed. "You always smelled so good."

"Eau de Bella," Bella smirked. "It's good to see you Emmett. Good to see you haven't changed."

"You certainly have," Emmett replied with a playful, _non-threatening_ leer. "I'm sorry about your dad. I always liked the Chief."

Bella's smiled softy, nodding her head. "Thank you," she said honestly. "Thanks."

"I offered to send Charlie to one of the top pathologists in Seattle," Carlisle eased himself into the conversation. "But he turned me down."

"Is that so?" Bella said, her smile falling away. "It was very kind of you to offer."

"Are you well?" Esme asked. "It's...it does matter to us. Are you happy?"

With her hand in mine, Bella smiled for real. "I'm happier than I have been in years. You are all actually interrupting my honeymoon."

Alice grimaced. "I didn't know you were here, only Peter. I've been looking for him for a very long time. I didn't realize you were here until Jasper had already arrived, and by then...well. Edward was visiting...and I tried to keep quiet. I did...but he saw, and then...well. I really am very sorry." Alice looked as teary-eyed as a vampire could. "I didn't know what he was doing...that day."

"It's alright," Bella replied. "Well, it isn't, not really. It will never be alright, what you all did to me. But I've moved past it. I'm...I'm not that Bella Swan any more."

"You've grown," Carlisle replied, "Whereas others haven't." His eyes slipped to his son, Edward, still a seething, disheveled mess in the corner. "Losing you changed us too. If you were to give us the chance to...redeem ourselves, we wouldn't waste it."

Bella shrugged, scratching Peen's wrinkles. "There would be no point in turning you away I guess. I'm just saying that...well. I don't know what I'm saying. What am I saying, Peter?"

"She's saying that this is a fresh start. That you don't know her, and don't assume you do. Apologies accepted, it's behind her, it's behind us. She doesn't want to beat a dead horse; she doesn't want to talk about it anymore. You may not like who she is now, and she may not like you in return. But she won't turn you away for trying."

"Mmm," Bella replied. "What he said. Anyways, in light of getting to know each other, or whatever, what have you guys been up to?"

"We were setting up the new house in Rhode Island," Esme supplied gently, seating herself in one of the high-back, winged chairs. The conversation was obviously strained and stilted, but it seemed that no one was unwilling to try. And Bella wasn't crying, or screaming so really, things were okay. "Carlisle and Edward have been south helping the victims of the Haiti earthquake."

"I set up a fund for that," Bella said almost absently. "Through my publicist," she reiterated.

"What do you need a publicist for?" Edward asked, rather rudely, earning an elbow to his ribs from the slight Alice. I kind of liked her already. She was perfect for Jasper.

"I write," Bella replied stiffly. "I'm a writer."

"Anything we know?" Esme asked delicately. She seemed to be trying the hardest. I could feel, rather then see, the horrors of her past, and knew well enough that though she'd hurt Bella, she always, _always_ meant well.

I snorted, pulling Bella down onto the love-seat with me. "Yeah, you might know the story."

Bella glared at me, holding Peen to her chest. "Um. Yes, yeah. It's...well. It's kind of popular. I uh...I use a pen-name. Maria Cygnet?"

"You wrote that?" Alice asked, her eyes sad. "Was it...it's based on us, isn't it? It's vague...but...Oh Bella." She finished sadly, turning a cold eye onto Edward.

"It isn't about us," Edward said stiffly. "It's nothing like us."

Bella smirked. "I didn't know you read Teenage Vampire Romance Novels, Edward. Though I'm not surprised."

"I...it isn't...It's not about us!" He couldn't seem to get his sentences straight. Retarded was a good look for him. "I didn't...you made me out..."

"I thought it wasn't about you?" Bella replied. "I made you out what? I made you out to be the lying piece of shit you are? Maybe. And you're right, it's not exactly like our story, is it? In my book, she ends up with the werewolf."

"Werewolf?" Edward changed gears faster than fuck. He paused, mid stride, seemingly unaware of his fucking audience. Either that or the boy loved a little melodrama. I didn't doubt it. "So it's true? You befriended those...beasts."

"Those beasts are the best family I ever had," Bella replied, ignoring the synchronized wince of the Cullens. "They took care of me."

"Animals," Edward replied. "They are a bunch of animals. You could have been killed."

Bella opened her mouth to speak, her narrowed brown eyes trained on Edward, when she faltered. She frowned, the little wrinkle between her brows seeming far deeper than it ever had. "They protected me," she replied absently, staring up at Edward. "Look at me."

He did so, confusion coloring his features. "What?" he replied tersely. "What?"

Bella's eyes went wide, as she leaned back, putting as much distance between Edward and herself. "You're wearing contacts."

**A/N Yeah, that probably wasn't what you were expecting, huh? So, the Cullens are still in the doghouse so to speak, but Bella doesn't have it in her to turn them out. She's more or less indifferent. It will never be the same. And what has our dear Edward been getting up to? Other than being a little douche-fucker.**


	25. Direpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 25/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 3, 482

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Beta of my heart, VampishVixen, who always seems to be there when I need her

A/N Okay, so this chapter was like stupid hard to write. I actually wrote 3k of it twice, and just fricking scrapped it, until I came up with this, which I'm not 100% happy with, but it is what it is. It's going to feel a little rushed, but thats just the way the story goes, so please don't be mad at me. Also, if you are unhappy with the way this chapter ends, and you probably will be, don't give up on me yet! There is more to come! There is still FIVE MORE CHAPTERS of OBTS.

**Peter POV**

"You're wearing contacts," Bella said abruptly. "Why the hell are you wearing contacts?"

The harmonized orchestra of_ 'what?'_ echoed in the room, as every pair of eyes snapped to his righteousness, the First-Son. Edward flinched beneath the weighty glare of his entire family, eyes darting to the floor in the darkness. "I made a mistake."

Yeah, that much was fucking clear. His shifty fucking attitude made more sense now, how hard it was to look the weasely little bastard in the eye. I wondered how he was avoiding his family, for they all seemed so clearly surprised.

"What do you mean, you made a _mistake_?" Carlisle asked, as if it wasn't obvious. I slipped my hand into Bella's, tugging her against me as we watched a train wreck in our honeymoon suite.

Jasper growled, stepping forward with a lethal stride. "It means that our Eddie's been monopolizing on the Earthquake victims," he sneered. "Eddie likes his Haitians like James Bond likes his martinis. Shaken, not stirred."

"Jasper," Esme chastised, but Jasper just scoffed.

"Whatever. I'm sure this ain't the first time your boy's pulled this shit, it's just the first time y'all caught him. Serves the little bastard right, he's been sitting a little too high on that pedestal as of late."

Bella trembled in my arms, hair sticking to her temples with sweat. "I think there was something wrong with those waffles. I feel like crap," she whispered against my chest, shaking fingers curled into the waistband of my jeans.

Wrapping my arms around her, I held her close. "It's probably the stress. This shit is crazy, you don't need this."

"Yeah," she agreed, laying her sleepy cheek against my shoulder. "I just want to get back to the honeymoon we didn't plan. When the fuck we sign up to play Dr. Phil for Vampires? They can take there drama elsewhere."

"I'm very sorry dear," Esme said softly, her golden eyes solemn. "This isn't exactly how we expected this to turn out." Bella shrugged; neither of us had much to say on the matter besides _'get the fuck out'_.

Edward's eyes flickered up from the floor, panic etched in every inch of him. Jasper was right, the little fucker deserved what he got. "Jasper..."

"No," Jasper cut him off, shaking his head as his family watched. "If you got the balls to be a bastard to me, Eddie, don't think I won't fight back. You talk a lot of shit, calling me and Peter monsters, but it ain't nothing other than your own guilt, right? Y'all know I do my best, know I fight the very nature that was beaten into me. But you, Eddie boy? You step out like this once a fucking decade, like a seven-year-itch. Yeah I know, I've always _known_. But I understood, you know? I get that it's hard; I never said a fucking word. But you're all up in here on your fucking high horse, and I'm sick of it."

"Is that true, bro?" The largest of the Cullen clan asked. "How long?"

Edward didn't answer, just continued to stare into the carpet. "As long as you've known him," I supplied. My answer was proven in the tensing of Edward's body, hands balled at his side.

Emmett scowled, looking all the more menacing for it. "All that shit you gave me when I slipped up in the forties? I was barely out of my newborn years, and you're pulling this shit _now_? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Emmett dear, you know we don't blame you for that. You were very young," Esme said gently, laying a tiny palm on his arm. It seemed to be enough, as he threw her a smile, shrugging it off like it was nothing.

"Sorry mom," Emmett replied. "It's just...you know I had a hard time getting through that, and Edward didn't let me off easy. Bastard."

"Is this true, son?" Carlisle cut in, his voice carrying over all others. "Was this intentional?"

"It's never intentional," Edward replied quietly. "I never set out for it to happen. It just...happens."

"Intentionally?" Carlisle asked. "Or does it _just happen_ as means to avoid Alice seeing it?" Edward cringed, but said nothing, and Carlisle pressed on. "This is why you disappear every decade for a few months?"

"I didn't want you to see me like this," Edward replied. "I'm ashamed."

"You should be," Esme replied coldly. "This is not the way we raised you, Edward Anthony. We would have helped you, forgiven you, should you have asked for it. It's almost as if you don't regret what you do."

"Peter."

"Oh he regrets it," Jasper sneered. "But that doesn't make it right."

"Peter."

"Regret is the first step in asking for forgiveness," Carlisle offered. "We're a family, and if Edward wants our help, then he has…" Carlisle fell silent, his golden eyes fading to an instant, stormy black.

"Peter!" The scent hit me faster than the panicked sound of her voice, staining the air with bleach and lavender. Her hand clenched in mine as she stumbled backwards, hand cupped over her face.

"_No!" _Alice snapped, hooking a tiny arm around Jasper. "You have to go Jasper. Go!"

"Every one out, _now_!" I said at once, pulling Bella behind me as she cupped her nose, bitter blood spilling into her palm like a fucking geyser. The girl really had a knack for timing. "_Out!_"

"Peter, Peter! Shit, shit, get me something!" Bella rasped, both hands pressed against her nose and mouth. Her lips and chin were striped with blood, sticky red rivets running down her forearm, and dripping from her elbows. I watched the color leech from her skin, steadying her at the waist when she began to shake.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay." I whispered, feeling her blood smear across my arms. I held my breath and ignored the warm seeping into my skin. "We'll get you to a hospital. It'll be okay."

"There's no time," Carlisle said at once, ghosting through the double-doors and into the bedroom. He returned with a damp towel as Esme shut the balcony doors, ushering her children out the window. "Catch her!" he snapped as Bella crumpled forward, eyes rolling into the back of her head. "Keep her upright, or she'll choke. Where are her pills?"

"Her purse," I replied, propping her up on the couch, pressing the towel to her face. The white cotton terry-cloth stained first pink, then red, until it was heavy with her blood. "We have to get her to a hospital. They helped her last time; they can help her."

"There is no _time_!" Carlisle snapped, losing every ounce of his cool demeanor. "She's dying."

"No."

"She is," he replied, shifting through the army of orange bottles lining the side table. "Whether it's now or later, I can't tell. Keep her head up, or it will drip back into her throat and make her throw up. Do you know what these are for?"

My mind barely registered the words, to ready to refuse any accusation. Bella wasn't dying, she _wasn't. _"They're antidepressants, sleeping pills, and stuff. And some of them are for the clotting disorder."

"And the autoimmunity. But there are others," he plucked a bottle from the line up. "This is for Haematemesis."

"What?" My mind wrapped around the word, running slow and sluggish in its refusal to believe what was right before my eyes. "Hema...hema what? Bella's never puked blood."

"Because she takes her medication," He said, clearly irritated. "This one is for the nose bleeds, but it isn't working, or she didn't take it."

"She said she wasn't sick, that it wouldn't kill her" I said, almost to myself. "She promised."

"By themselves, none of these are lethal. The clotting disorder is concerning, and the Haematemesis is actually a symptom of something else. It's the autoimmunity that concerns me." He stared at the bottles for a long moment. "This looks a lot like Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis."

"Do you honestly think I know what the fuck that is?" I growled. Had I been able to think clearly, I would have no doubt known, but I couldn't _think_. Bella laid lifelessly across the couch; the rise and fall of her chest the only thing keeping me anywhere near sane. The nose bleed had tapered off to a low trickle, bleeding a slow path through the thick dried blood that caked her skin. "Come on Doc, I'm losing it." I wiped at it in vain with a clean corner of the towel, smearing rusty stains across her cheeks.

Crouching before her, Carlisle felt for her pulse, pressing cool fingertips against her blood stained wrists. Wiping the blood on his grey slacks, he peeled back her eyelids, watching as her pupils dilated lightly in the dim light.

"There are symptoms. Fever, lethargy, jaundice, enlargement of the..." He lifted her shirt to expose her abdomen, pressing gently into the soft muscles, and frowned. "Enlargement of the spleen. It leads to lymphocytosis and histiocytosis, which explains the autoimmunity and the blood clotting. " He sighed, leaning back on his heels. "She's already in the stages of Hemophagocytosis." Without blinking, he licked a stray droplet of her blood from his knuckle, grimacing. "Her blood is killing her."

"No. No...just. _No_. She said she wasn't dying. She _promised _me!" I was pretty sure that the good doctor wasn't fucking getting it. Bella wasn't dying. She wasn't. Fuck.

Carlisle's look was pitying. "It's possible when she said it that she didn't believe she was, Peter. The disease is fickle, there's no promise of death. It isn't the Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis that's killing her. It's the inability to fight infection. Did she take her medication today?"

"I don't know, I was out with Jasper." Snatching her purse from the table, I dug within it until my fingers brushed the familiar worn-plastic Dracula. "It's full. She hasn't taken anything today."

"She's breathing, and her heart rate has slowed," Carlisle replied quietly, peeling the soaking wet towel from my hands. "I believe that some kind of pathogen was introduced into her body recently. Maybe today. At this stage of the disease, it wouldn't take more then a few hours to send her body into shock without the medication. Without it, she was unable to fight off the infection. It would explain the nose bleeds, they're common in autoimmunity diseases. It could have been from anything. The bathroom, the room service. The cat."

Peen growled at Carlisle, moving to curl around Bella's ankle in silent protest. It wasn't the cat, of course. Hayyel's animals were as perfect as any angel, incapable of contracting disease or illness. It was obvious he resented the comment.

"She got a nose bleed when I met her," I said almost absently, piecing together a picture I hadn't yet formed. "The pharmacy tech was disgusting. Bella washed her hands though; actually she washed everything, constantly. She got another one, a really bad one after we visited the Wolf Pack in Forks. That was...that was after Walter Freedmont! She was in his vile fucking house, no wonder she got so fucking sick. They increased her medication. She's been sleeping so much more lately, and I've woken her up completely drenched in sweat. "

"She's building a resistance to it, or rather the disease is spreading,"he informed me solemnly. "Given enough time, the medication will be ineffective."

"So...there's no fighting this?"

"There are plenty of premeditated measures one can take. As you said, Bella kept things clean. Increased hygiene and sterilization, special diets are part of the regimen. Victims of this disease also tend to be come rather introverted, limiting their contact without others as a means to prevent possible infection. With this level of autoimmunity, a cold would feel more like pneumonia, and pneumonia would kill her." Carlisle smiled sadly. "If any one was going to fight it, it would be Bella. Go get washed up, and I'll see if I can get any of these pills in her."

"I'm not leaving her," I replied petulantly. "I want to be here when she wakes. She needs me here."

Carlisle smiled tiredly this time, his patience wearing thin. "She shouldn't wake for a while, Peter. And she doesn't care for blood. Let's clean her up, and _then_ you need to go get cleaned up, okay? You haven't been breathing, if you continue to stifle yourself, your other senses will accommodate, and it will cause acute panic and distress. You're already feeling panicky, I can tell. I hardly think I need to inform you that a Vampiric panic attack is not a pleasant thing. You're of no use to Bella like this; we need to clean the blood."

"Okay," I replied slowly. "Her bag is in the bedroom, at the foot of the bed. There's probably some pajamas in there."

He returned with the bag and a new damp cloth "I've seen Bella indisposed before," he said with a wry smile as I glared at him. "I've treated her more times then I care to count."

"As wonderful as that is, would you turn around?" I asked stiffly. "I doubt Bella would appreciate being manhandled in the buff by you if I am here and perfectly capable of doing it."

"Of course," Carlisle replied amicably. "I only meant to assuage you of any ill ease. My intentions towards Bella are purely fatherly."

"I'm sure they are," I said lightly, wiping gently at the ribbons of blood that stained her arms. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm not in the most gracious of moods. I just found out that my entire reason for living is dying before my eyes and I can't do shit about it."

Carlisle shifted slightly, his shoulders drawn tight. "Bella was once...assenting to the idea that she might join our kind. It is an option."

"I'd change her in a fucking heart beat," I growled. "Don't you think I'd do that if I could?"

"I think today has proven that your control is iron clad," Carlisle replied. "Do you not trust yourself?"

"I would never hurt Bella," I replied quietly, peeling away her blood soaked clothes. "I couldn't hurt her if I tried. I live for her, and nothing else. There is nothing else for me. Before I met her, I wasn't alive, I was existing. I could _never_ hurt her. But I can't do it. I can't."

To my surprise, and gratitude, Carlisle asked no questions. "I could do it."

My hands pulled the white cotton shirt over Bella's head mechanically as my head reeled with the possibility. "You would do that?" I asked, tugging at Bella's ratty sweat-pants.

"It would not be the first time I had considered it, to be honest," he replied. "It had been my intentions once upon a time to induct Bella into the family properly. I know that isn't an option now, but I would still do it, should she ask."

"I'd never turn her without her permission," I agreed at once, dropping her sweats on the floor. I slid the clean pair of sleep pants over her ankles, then calves, tugging them until they were snug around her waist. "She's dressed."

Carlisle turned and gathered Bella's bloody clothes from the floor. "Go on now, I'll take care of her." He promised, all but shooing me from the room.

**xXxXxXx**

I watched the water drain at my feet, swirls of pink and crystal. I couldn't fucking do this. This couldn't be happening.

"You realize that it would not be difficult to alter the Order to include others changing Bella as well, yes?" Gabriel said, standing beside me in the walk-in shower.

"Wouldn't that be toeing the line of Free Will?" I asked, too drained to be startled by his sudden presence.

Gabriel shrugged wings, feathers shifting and defying all laws of physics and reality in the small space. "These are not humans which we speak of. As you well know, the Free Will of vampires has always been adjusted to accommodate Fate." His pointed look was not lost on me as he slid against the wall, pressing his palm against my back. My wings shuddered, tearing silently through my iron flesh. I bit back a growl as pain ripped through my body, my flesh pulling tight where my wings had torn through. "Stop fucking with fate, Micha. We are not amused."

Rolling my shoulders, I bared my teeth at him, shaking the water from my lashes. "You think I'm doing this to piss you off? I love her Gabriel, a concept you cannot understand! It's not like loving Dad. It's on a whole different plane, and I can't continue without her. Not in the Host or with Brotherhood, and not here on Earth. I can't be without her, I just can't!"

"Oh Micha," he said softly, pulling me against his dry, fully clothed body. "We are not made to love like this. We are not built to feel as humans feel."

"What happens if the vampire changes her?" I asked, pulling free from his arms. "What happens to me?"

"We will not alter the order," Gabriel replied. "We hope you will make the right choice, brother. Should Bella be changed by your hand or at your request, the sentence stands. You will be banned from the Heavens, and hunted by your own kind." He took my hand in his, commingled grace tingling through my fingers. "No one wants that, brother."

"I'd give up Heaven and the Host for her," I said with a desperate kind of finality. "I'd give up my wings and my soul for one more day."

Gabriel's angelic facade faded away, as his eyes became pleading. "Please, I am begging of you, not as an angel or a Messenger, but as a friend, as your _brother_, Micha. Please don't do this. God has a plan! You must trust it, it is the way!"

"His way is to take Bella from me," I replied with a choked sob.

Gabriel sighed, squeezing my hand as his wings brushed against mine. "No one knows the way of God, Gabriel. Not even you. No one _knows_ the plan."

I laughed darkly, looking up into the eyes of God's Messenger himself. "God spares no love for me today."

"God loves all his creatures," Gabriel reminded me. "Even the darkest. You know that."

"I know nothing of the kind."

**xXxXxXx**

Bella was curled over the edge of the bed, vomiting dark red blood when I left the bathroom. Carlisle's eyes snapped to mine, speaking in nothing but a whisper, barely heard over the splashing sound of blood hitting the bottom of the ice-bucket. _"It's worse than I thought." _

"Peter," Bella wheezed, whipping her cherry stained lips on the back of her hand, leaving smears of red. "I'd offer to kiss you, but Carlisle said I taste terrible."

"Probably from the increased white cells. Your far too bitter for my taste," Carlisle replied, appeasing Bella's need to joke. "That was all your medication, I'm afraid. I suggest you attempt to eat something, then take a new dose."

"Of course, Carlisle." Bella lied, settling herself back into the couch. Peen hopped down from the armrest, curling into her lap. "Peter, stop it."

"What?" I felt my feet hit the floor at once, and ignored Carlisle's strange look.

"He floats when he's upset," Bella explained flippantly. "Peter."

"Bella..."

Carlisle interrupted smoothly, fishing a card from the pocket of his red stained jacket. He was covered in blood, his pale face splattered, fresh and wet. It was something out of a horror movie, really. A movie where he wasn't the monster, just another guy who gets gutted and hung up by his intestines in some back-woods barn. Movies never got it right.

"I'll leave you two to talk, apparently there is much to say. I think it would be best if I hunted. As solid as my control is, it is rare that I have blood projectile vomited down my front." He dropped the card on the table, casting Bella one last smile before disappearing off the balcony.

"Can you carry me to the bedroom?" Bella asked, looking up from the horror-scene that was the couch. The carpet squelched beneath my feet, no doubt from when Bella missed the bucket. "I'm too tired to walk."

"Of course you're too tired," I replied, fear and panic shattering my voice. "You just puked half your weight in blood."

"I think there was some waffle in there too," she replied, looping her arms around my neck. "We gotta talk, don't we?

"Yeah, we gotta talk."

**A/N Please don't shank me yet! I won't leave you hanging like last time. This chapter was really, really hard to right! There just wasn't a good enough segue between asshole Edward (which we hear about again later, the subject isn't closed) and desperately ill Bella. So, yeah. Let's not kill the Lyndsey.**

**Oh, and also? Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is a real disease. There isn't much known about it, except that it's genetic. I thought I was gonna have to make this shit up, but hell no, Wiki helped a girl out.**


	26. Denialpire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 26/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 2,169

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Beta : Beta'd by my darling Vampish VixN who takes my story and makes it worth reading.

A/N *drops this off and runs away*

_**Previously**_

_"Can you carry me to the bedroom?" Bella asked, looking up from the horror-scene that was the couch. The carpet squelched beneath my feet, no doubt from when Bella missed the bucket. "I'm too tired to walk."_

_"Of course you're too tired," I replied, fear and panic shattering my voice. "You just puked half your weight in blood."_

_"I think there was some waffle in there too," she replied, looping her arms around my neck. "We gotta talk, don't we?_

_"Yeah, we gotta talk._

**Peter POV**

"Don't turn me."

It took three words to crush my life to pieces, just like it had taken three words to make it what it was. I didn't want to hear it, didn't want to process the request. "Bella..."

"No, Peter," she said gently, lacing her fingers into my own. She scratched Peen between the ears with her other hand, leaning against the headboard of the warm bed. "It's my time. I thought I had more...but it's my time."

"Please don't leave me." It was selfish of me to say it. Selfish of me to want to keep her when she didn't want to stay. I knew in my head that this wasn't any kind of vendetta against me, that she wasn't leaving _me. _"I can't live without you."

I could see the rainbows in her tears and remembered our conversation about God at Yellowstone. They left wet trails down her cheeks, almost silver in lamplight. "You never finished your list."

She laughed, watery and broken. "I finished what was important. I got a tattoo; I spent an ass load of money on something stupid. Those silk-boxers? Sixty-eight bucks. Totally worth it, if you consider that we ended up fucking in a dressing room because of them. I met some one famous if you count Captain Kirk. Scared the shit out of myself on a boat. Saw a miracle happen when I got married, maybe even the moment I fell in love with you." She laughed, laying her head on my shoulder. "I may not have done 'shrooms, and I didn't see a donkey show, but I touched something magical that made it worth it."

"What did you touch?" I asked, amused beneath my sorrow.

"Oh I can't tell you," she informed me seriously. "It would ruin the magic."

"Bella..." I didn't know what to say. Didn't know how to plead my case, beg that she give up Heaven for me, even if she didn't know what she was giving up. "I can't live without you."

"You can," she promised. "And I will always be there."

"I'll never touch you again," I whispered, because all these fucking truths hurt too much to say out loud, like saying them out loud would make them real. "I'll never touch you, never kiss you. I can't live like that."

"Do you believe that we are meant to be?" she asked, out of the blue. "That we were destined to be together? That fate united us?"

I wasn't sure what I believed any more, I didn't have the energy to muster up my Faith. But in a way, a long and winding, twisted way, Fate _had _brought us together, or at least, something had. Had I not been on my mission from God when Jasper turned me? I didn't know if that was fate, or some cosmic mishap, and me a sad victim-bystander. And Bella, how had she come to be so tangled up in the Cullens? Her mother, of course. The Prophet had sent her, and what did that mean? I didn't know, and that scared me.

"I don't know about Fate," I said, though that seemed a lie. "But I know that we belong together."

"It's Faith, Peter." Bella said. "I don't believe that this is the end of my life. There is so much more that could be done. Death isn't going to stop me. You have to have Faith that this isn't the end."

"I can't believe that," I said to God, but spoke out loud so Bella could have the benefit of hearing it. "I can't live like that."

"You'll never be without me," she replied quietly. "If you think a little thing like Death can keep me from loving you, you're retarded."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Bella." I said at last, too tired to be angry, and too weary to do much else. "I don't know what you want from me. We could be together forever. You don't have to die."

She laughed sadly, thumbing away her tears. "You know, that's always what made me most sad for you Vampires. That you might never find your Heaven."

"How can you be so sure there is an afterlife?" The words spilled from my mouth with all the bitterness expected from one turned-out by his own kind. "How can you be sure you won't end up in six feet in a hole, and nothing else?"

"Faith," Bella said again, her trembling hands stroking down Peen's body where he laid curled in her lap. "I have to believe."

"I don't know how to be okay with this," I replied into the silence. "I don't know how to come to terms. I don't know what you fucking want with me! Why are you doing this!" It wasn't fair of me, of course, to blame her for this. I couldn't help it, it hurt too much.

"I'm not doing this to any one, Peter," Bella replied, as calmly as ever. "If God wants me to die, I die. Who are we to question that?"

'_She's very smart, little brother.' _Gabriel's voice echoed within me, the tingle of his grace skating across my skin. '_Her faith is inspiring.' _

Bella's eyes went wide, and for a moment, I thought she could hear my brother too. '_She feels me, more faintly then you do, but the feeling is there,' _Gabriel replied.

Gabriel's grace was a God-send and a curse, and I was torn between the comfort and the anger I still felt for him. _'Do not blame me, little brother. I never wish to hurt you.'_

"I had the strangest dream when I slept," Bella said, no segue to the subject change, but that was Bella for you. "I died and all that waited for me on the other side was Peen, but he promised me you'd come too. Do you think good Vampires go to Heaven?"

"I don't know," I replied, because I didn't. No _good_ vampires had died yet, but I knew all sins could be forgiven, so I thought maybe they did. Maybe they didn't, maybe the prize for not being a murderer was just the respite of death. Maybe you didn't go to heaven, but you didn't go to hell either, so it was still a win. I didn't know that.

"Do you believe that Edward is bad? That if good Vampires go to Heaven, he'll go to Hell?" she asked, looking up through her lashes from where her head lay on my shoulder.

"No," I said quietly. "He seeks forgiveness, even if it's only within. I think that's enough; wanting to be better, and working for it. I think that Edward doesn't believe he isn't damned, and allows that to rule him."

Bella nodded, smiling as if I had done or said something right. "He doesn't _believe _that there is hope for him. Without hope, he has no Faith."

I blinked. "So what you're saying is that you hope that Death isn't the end, you hope that believing will be enough to see you through?"

"That's Faith, Peter." She replied. "You have to believe."

"I believe." Of course I did. But as painful as it was to admit it, I almost wished she didn't. I almost wished she believed that death was the end. Then maybe she would stay with me, and I wouldn't lose her to the Heavens.

"And _that _is all what I ask of you."

**xXxXxXx**

No more was said on Faith.

The day passed with little more incident then a red-spattered Kleenex from one of Bella's coughing fits. "I knew I was sick," she said, balling the kleenex in her fist, and tossing it weakly to the trash can. We were on the balcony, tucked away in one chair. Bella curled into my lap, swaddled in blankets. "That day, that Tuesday? They told me."

"You were never going to Therapy on Tuesdays."

"I never said I was."

"It wasn't your anti-depressants they wanted to wean you off."

"It wasn't _just_ my anti-depressants."

"You said you weren't dying."

"Didn't think I was, at the time."

"What was with the Road Trip?"

"I wanted to see the world. And I wanted to see it with you."

"The bucket list?"

"Every man has one."

"You lied to me."

"Never, not to you."

It went on like that, a back-and-forth volley of question and answer. I had only the comfort of her body, and the notion that she wanted to spend her dying days with me. We watched the sunrise, and Bella traced lines across my scars, smoothing her fingertips across the diamond-dust of my skin.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," she hummed, "and sorry I could not travel both."

I laughed, low and hard, picking up at her silence. "And be the one traveler, long I stood. And looked down one as far as I could, to where it bent in the undergrowth."

"Then took the other, as just as fair," Bella replied with careful precision. "And having perhaps the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear."

"Though as for that the passing there, had worn them really about the same." I wanted to cry. There were no two paths for me, just the one I wasn't ready for. Robert Frost could burn in hell.

"And both that morning equally lay, in the leaves no step had trodden black," she whispered quietly against my chest. "Oh, I kept the first for another day, yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back." Her fingers traced lines up my throat, brushing across my lips as she spoke quietly into the evening. "I shall be telling this with a sigh, some where ages and ages hence. I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference. "

"You've known all along," I accused, no venom in my voice.

"We all know we'll die eventually," she agreed. "I knew the medication wasn't working like it used to."

"Is this my fault?" The question came out as a broken rasp, as if the words had choked me. "Did I do this to you? When you saved me from that fucking hovel?"

"No one did this to me, Peter," Bella replied gently. "It just happened. The world is my enemy. I just wanted to live before I died. I wanted to live with you."

"So all of this? This was your chance at life?" I asked, mouth pressed against her hair. It hurt, like a pain I never knew. This put the burning of turning to shame. I was breaking.

"No," Bella replied, twisting in my lap so that she could look at me as she spoke. "This was the last Hoo-Rah, so to speak. Think of it as a going-away party,"she laughed. "My chance at life was _you_."

It was too cheesy, too much, and I felt the pain I had carefully packed away bubble up inside me in the form of a choked sob. "I can't Bella, I can't."

"You can," she said. "You can and you will."

"You'll be gone."

"I'll be _everywhere_."

**xXxXxXx**

"Is there anything I need to do?" I asked, tucking Bella into bed long after the sun had risen. It had been a very long day. "Any one I need to talk to?"

"It's taken care of," Bella replied. "I took care of everything when I found out I was sick. Merchandise rights go to my mother. Book profits go to the Rez. I've set up a trust fund for Jamie that my mother doesn't even know about, and one for Leah and Jacob's baby too. My manager can list the apartment for sale and donate the profits to whatever charity she wants." She paused. "I left you the house in Forks. You'll always be welcome there."

I closed my eyes, to afraid to look at her when I asked. "Funeral?"

"Cremation," she replied without pause. "Pour my ashes in the Pacific. Off the cliff."

"I won't be able to come," I replied. "Not to the Rez."

"Jacob will let you," Bella replied. "He has that right."

"Bella..."

"Please, Peter? I want it to be you."

"Okay."

**xXxXxXx**

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. I've got you," I did what I could, said what I could, soothing Bella through the most recent attack. Blood, water and stomach acid poured from her mouth, staining the white porcelain of the toilet a rusty pink. "Can't be much more."

She laughed, wiping her chin on the back of her hand. "There's always more."

"We'll get through this," I promised, smoothing her hair back, as I wiped the blood from her chin.

"Yes," she said. "You will."

**A/N: Please don't kill the author before the story is finished. Who knows, maybe I change her!**


	27. Crypire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 27/?**

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 3,010

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Beta : VampishVixn, to whom I am sorry I made cry.

**A/N There is nothing I can say to justify what I am about to do to you all. Only know that I cried too. I believe with the last chapter I brought some of you from Team Peter onto the less blasphemous side of Team God. I won't tell you how it ends, but it's the eleventh hour now. **

_**Previously on OBTS**_

_"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. I've got you," I did what I could, said what I could, soothing Bella through the most recent attack. Blood, water and stomach acid poured from her mouth, staining the white porcelain of the toilet a rusty pink. "Can't be much more."_

_She laughed, wiping her chin on the back of her hand. "There's always more."_

_"We'll get through this," I promised, smoothing her hair back, as I wiped the blood from her chin._

_"Yes," she said. "You will._

**PeterPOV**

The air was still thick with blood and bile, as Bella stretched out on the bed, waking up from a heartbreakingly long ten-hour sleep. Every hour I wished to wake her; shake her hard so her eyes would open, and I would know I hadn't fucking lost her yet. She looked no different to me, save for maybe she was paler; the rings beneath her eyes were darker. Had she always looked so sick? Had I only just noticed?

"I think it's time I called Carlisle," I said quietly, stretched out beside her on the comforter. So this was what a death bed felt like, I thought. It was cold, but only because I was in it.

Bella smiled wanly, heavy lidded with sleep. "Do you have to?" she asked, curling her pale body against me. "I'd rather it was just you and I." 

"You'll tell me if you need him, right?"

"I won't need him," Bella replied, pressing her fever-hot palm against my stomach, pinky fingers tickling at my navel. "He can't stop this."

I turned to my side, slotting my thigh between hers, as we often did when she slept. She hooked her ankle around my calf as I settled my hand on her hip. "I don't want it to be painful."

_ It. _It was an It. It was the fucking storm cloud over Mordor, a beacon of our doom.

Bella burrowed her head into my chest, her breath warm against my skin. "All I need is for you to be here," she said so softly, as if she didn't want me to hear. "Am I asking too much?"

She wasn't, not really. She could ask the world of me, and it would never be too much. It hurt, sliced through me, leaving jagged, gushing wounds. But I'd sacrifice my soul for every minute Bella gave me, even the very last one. I didn't say as much, too worried that if I started talking, I'd never stop; I'd pour my soul out to a dying girl who had too much weight on her shoulders already. "No," I said, instead. "Never."

_**xXxXxXx**_

She fell asleep again, and I felt robbed of what time I had for her on this earth. Robbed by the very mortality that was taking her from me. Peen was curled into the apex of her shoulder, tiny naked head resting on her neck. He hurt too, I could see it. "What are we going to do, Peen?" I asked, reaching over Bella's near-comatose body to stroke his silky ears. "What will we do without her?"

Peen stretched, arching his back in a convex curve, paws kneading at the sheets. He walked carefully across Bella's pillow to me, a tiny warm comfort purring against my body. "You're gonna die on me too, one day. And then what? What do I do?"

Butting his wrinkly head against my head, Peen demanded attention, drawing me from my suicidal navel gazing. "How can I believe in fate, and hope, and faith? How can I believe when the rug is being ripped out from beneath me?"

"Your feet never belonged on the rug to begin with Brother," Gabriel said from his perch on the wardrobe. He looked down at me with sad, brown eyes. "God is very proud of Bella."

"Not that it will stop Him from letting her die," I replied, bitter and angry. "Not that it matters in the end."

"Do you really think so, Little Brother Micha? Do you think her faith is not her key to salvation?" Gabriel cocked his head to the side, corkscrew curls of gold and honey brushing his hunched shoulders. He looked like one of those chubby cement cherubs you see in windows and gardens. I wanted to laugh, but I was too busy trying not to cry.

"Of course it is," I snapped. "No one belongs in Heaven more than Bella. No one deserves that respite. Her life was a bunch of bullshit and pain, but her life has been _short_! There could have been time; she didn't even get a chance to live."

"But she did," Gabriel said flittering down from his perch like a fucking bird. "Because of you, Dear Brother, Bella will die at _peace_. So few get such an option. You gave her that, you should be proud."

"If that's all I can give her then I give it to her freely. She can take what she needs from me, cut me to pieces, and I will never love her any less. If she could pull me down unto death with her, I would go without a blink. But I will never, ever be able to have that."

"You have no intentions of returning to the Host?" Gabriel asked, a ripple of mourning that rivaled my own rushing through his out stretched grace. "You won't come home?"

"Am I still welcome?" I asked, bewildered. I had made my choice, I would have changed her. I would have forsaken the entire Brotherhood.

"As of yet, you are." Gabriel replied. "Bella is still human."

"But I made my choice! I would do it, Gabriel. She need only ask!" I growled, clutching Peen too tightly to my chest. He yowled, hissing and spitting, until I let him escape from my clutches, to curl in a nest of Bella's hair.

"And as she won't, you are saved."

I shook my head, too afraid to look at either of them. "Without her, I feel condemned."

Gabriel sighed, sitting himself beside me on the bed's edge, his hand resting on my knee. "You will see her, as I have said. You can visit the Heavens."

"Once."

"Yes," Gabriel agreed. "Just once."

I stared at the ceiling, as if God would was there. "And this is meant to assuage my sorrow? This is meant to set me free? I shall lose her once, only to lose her again? I shall break, only to be broken again? You would do this to me truly? Make me suffer so?"

"It is meant as a good bye, Baby Brother. A chance to make amends," Gabriel explained, confusion marring his pretty-perfect face.

"My goodbye will be in this bed." I closed my eyes, head thunking against the head board. "My goodbye will be in this bed, beside her, on our honeymoon. My goodbye will be as a vampire."

"If...if that is what you wish," Gabriel replied. "But the offer will always stand."

With closed eyes, I nodded once. "I think you should leave now. Please."

Gabriel seemed to understand, giving my leg a squeeze before rising from the bed. "As you wish, young Micha. But I will be here, when you need me most."

"If you must."

"I must."

**xXxXxXx**

Bella kissed me as she woke again, a mere two hours later. "Sorry about the breath," she said, grabbing her water bottle from the night stand.

I shrugged, pulling her back against me. "S'fine," I said simply, because simple was safe. Her breath didn't smell any worse than the scent of impending death.

She wiggled her sleep-weak body up to mine, digging the tips of her fingers deep into my waistband, thumbs hooking against the jeans. "One last hoo-rah?" she whispered, pressing a kiss against my collar bone through the cotton of my shirt. "Can't deny a dy-"

I couldn't hear it, couldn't let her say it out loud. I kissed her hard, prying open her mouth with a swipe of my tongue. Her sweat-sticky body melted beneath me, sheets clinging to her skin as I pressed her back. I couldn't deny her of course, couldn't deny myself.

She was wearing the Goonies shirt, faded and Downy scented. Dropping it to the floor felt like its own kind of fucking blasphemy. It was its own bible, full of memories, the beginning of our very short story. Her loose sleep pants came off with a gentle pull, and she laughed as she struggled to toe them off her ankles, laughed like we always did when it came to these things.

Then my jeans, my shirt, joined the pile on the floor. Peen let himself out to avoid the bathroom. Smart cat.

It was everything like it always was, and at the same time nothing was the same. There was no sense of urgency; neither of us could rush this. And she was weak, trembling hands skating across my body, nails scratching at my skin.

Her hands slipped through my hair, tugging as my cool palms skated down her sides. I wanted to remember her; the touch, the taste, the smell of her skin. "Shhhh," she said, clammy hands cupping my face. "We're _here _now. Don't think on it."

I nodded, unable to trust my broken voice. Instead I kissed her, soft and wet, the faint taste of tainted blood lingering on her lips. Her foot slid up my calf, the sparkles in her toe socks rough against my skin, and it was so _Bella_ that I just wanted to cry.

But there couldn't be tears here, hypothetical or otherwise. There would be no tainting of _this_ memory. There would be no tears, just touch and taste and the scent of skin. Downy fabric softener, blood, and lilacs. That's how I'd remember this. And scratchy glitter toe socks.

My tongue slid along the cold sweat coating her skin, sliding down her jaw,_ and wouldn't it be easy, _I thought. Wouldn't it be easy to sink my teeth in, keep her forever?

But I couldn't. Wouldn't.

Instead I kissed her pulse point and felt her heart beat against my lips, feather light and rapid. There was a time when I thought I'd kill her, when I thought I had to. There was a time when this was strange, when _she_ was strange, and I was awkward, and there was silence that didn't sit right. The jaded, the medicated, socially awkward, and humanly inept; we met and that changed. There was a time when the beat beneath my lips didn't matter, and now it was a fucking _countdown_ to an end I didn't see coming.

I tasted, I touched, I kissed every part of her. My wings fluttered within me, a shivering reminder that I was worshiping at the wrong altar. I wanted her to live; wanted to sink my teeth into her thighs and turn those dark eyes red.

Her body was pliant with blood loss and lust. Cold sweat beneath cold palms. I'd mastered this body over the course of a moment cataloged by roadside attractions. We'd always have Twine Ball, we'd always have dinosaurs.

Sliding my hand down her concave spine, I palmed her ass, the feel of my brand imprinted in black across her skin. _Mine;_ she wasn't mine, but I'd like to believe a part of her was.

Her body was hot with fever, hot with passion. The mix of pants and gasps a combination of ecstasy and exhaustion. Her body rolled against mine, the meaning clear. Cupping her knees, I slid her leg high onto my hip, sinking into her with one painstakingly slow thrust.

I wanted to feel it all.

She gasped, shattering the stone-dead silence, a breathless gasp that tapered off into a moan and set our bodies into motion. Hands wandered, fingers trailed. This moment would haunt me, and I'd relish every moment.

There were no words, nothing to say. No 'yes, yes, yes' and no 'god, god, god'. The only words spoken were spoken in silence against each others mouths, with tongues and teeth. Her teeth, anyway. Ankles crossed at the base of my back, she tightened, glitter-socked feet struggling to dig against my iron skin. I breathed in her moans, tasted them on my tongue, felt her body shake and tremble as her eyes fluttered to a close. I didn't want it to end, but I fell not far after, my mouth pressed against her neck, pressed against her pulse, the ticking time bomb.

There were unshed tears in her eyes, and a smile on her mouth when I pried my face from her shoulder. "Love," she said, and the word was wet with blood. She coughed against her hand, and then smeared blood across the pillow case. "I love you."

I wanted to die.

**xXxXxXx**

I called Carlisle while Bella was in the shower, scrubbing away a day's worth of sex, sweat and death. "It's getting worse," I whispered. "I don't know what to do."

"I hunted," Carlisle segued. "I can come tonight."

To be honest, it took me half a second to figure out what the fuck he was talking about, and when I did, it only served to hurt more. "She doesn't," I swallowed back the choked sob inching its way up my throat. "She doesn't want that."

"What?"

"She wants to live," I said. "She wants to die."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

"I can still come. Do what I can to make her as comfortable as possible."

"I...yes. Please."

**xXxXxXx**

Hours. Only hours had passed, and Bella was worse. Tonight, Carlisle had said. If that. Tonight. Guilt ate at me like the infection ate at her. Fast, too fast. Did I push her too hard? Should I have said no? Would it matter?

No.

Nothing mattered.

Jasper touched my arm, a frisson of familiarity racing up my spine. "Let me help you," he said, gold eyes pleading. "I can help."

Tempting, it was tempting, to let him just fucking siphon away the pain. "No. If...if all I can feel is this for her, I want to feel it. Every second of it. For her."

Alice seemed to understand, leading him away with a gentle hand. She smiled at me, the kind of smile I was sure could be bright, but wasn't anything but broken now.

"It's very kind of you to come here like this," Bella rasped, her throat raw from the burn of stomach acid. Carlisle lingered at the bedside, his pretty wife clutched to his side, twin expressions pinched at the brow. "It's weird, but very kind. If this is...if you're here as some kind of...duty, I wish you wouldn't. You don't owe me anything. I'm going to di-" She flinched, eyes flittering my way. I guess she got that I couldn't say it. Couldn't hear it. "I'm going to leave a happy woman. I've found all I ever wanted."

"We're here because we care, dear," Mother Cullen said. "We're here because we want to be."

"Okay then," Bella said at length. She was propped up by an arsenal of pillows, and covered in a mountain of blankets. "Okay."

Scooping Peen up off the floor, I set him in Bella's lap. He calmed her, some how; stifled the trembling of her hands. She stroked his skin with gentle fingertips, the vibration of his purr spreading through her body onto my own where our thighs, hips, and arms touched. The room was silent, the occasional opening of a mouth, the struggle to find something to say that wasn't '_oh my god, I am so sorry_.'

Her coughs grew wetter, harder, bringing up black chunks of blood that had leaked into her stomach, clotted and curdled. The smell didn't even bother the Vampires, it was too sour and ruined. She clutched her stomach, painful shakes racking her body. I was at a loss, didn't know what to do. Carlisle jammed a fucking needle into her arm before any of us noticed, and I couldn't even thank the man, couldn't even smile. Instead I tore the down-comforter, tore it with my fingernails where my own hand had clenched in its soft cotton fabric.

Feathers erupted, falling like snow. They caught the light of the evening sun through the window, sending prisms of color across the room. Prisms of color that Bella couldn't see. They fell like snow, sticking to the fresh blood and bile. White fluffy feathers like Angel wings, and I sobbed, burying my face in Bella's shaking shoulder.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Rosalie," Bella said, after the feathers had settled, and I had stopped crying. Stopped filling the air with bone-deep awkward tension. A blonde stepped out from behind the Cullen Collective, her brow furrowed. Boldly so, she sat on the edge of the bed, curling her hand around Bella's jaw.

"Rosalie?" Bella said, confusion clear in her rough voice.

The blonde, this Rosalie, she stared into Bella's eyes long and hard. The silence was unnerving, or rather horrifically uncomfortable. She stared, unblinkingly, until a very small smile curved her lips, looking out of place in the room.

"I'm so proud of you," Rosalie whispered, eyes shining, burning with venom.

There was a moment where nothing was said, and then to what seemed to be a collective surprise, Bella hugged her. Wrapped her trembling arms around her neck and pulled her close. "Jesus, Rosalie," she mumbled. "Fuck."

It seemed that was the moment that Bella really realized. Her faith had not been a matter of the Eleventh Hour, of course, but now it seemed real. Whatever Rosalie had said, it seemed to have meaning. It meant something to all of them, all of them except me. But it didn't matter that I didn't get it, wouldn't change a thing. But it mattered to Bella, and that's _all_ that mattered to me.

Rosalie stepped away, nodded once and smoothed her hair, filling the room with awkward tension once again. Bella just laughed, but it came out like a wheeze, a choking sputter. A mockery of what once was.

Carlisle was there in an instant, stethoscope pressed against her chest. I could hear it, we could all hear it. Like a boiling pot of water, bubbling and steaming.

"There's blood in her lungs" Carlisle said quietly, as Bella fought to catch her breath. "It's...I..."

He looked just as lost as the rest of us.

_"It's nearly time, Micha."_ Gabriel whispered into my ear, invisible to the rest of the world, invisible even to me. _"Let her go." _

**A/N: I cried writing this. I ...I just. I cried writing this, and I'm sorry. Three more chapters, my dear readers. Oh, and sorry for the Lord of the Rings Reference. My dad use to call my mom the Storm Cloud Over Mordor. It always stuck with me.**


	28. Pyrepire

Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 28/30

Author: Lifelesslyndsey

Category: Twilight

Pairing: Bella x Peter

Summary: Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

Rating: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

Word Count: 2,237

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Beta'd by VampishVixN, who makes this story worth reading at all 3

A/N Consider this a tissue warning, and know that even though this is painful to read, I won't let you down.

_**Previously on OBTS, **_

_Rosalie stepped away, nodded once and smoothed her hair, filling the room with awkward tension once again. Bella just laughed, but it came out like a wheeze, a choking sputter. A mockery of what once was._

_Carlisle was there in an instant, stethoscope pressed against her chest. I could hear it, we could all hear it. Like a boiling pot of water, bubbling and steaming._

_"There's blood in her lungs" Carlisle said quietly, as Bella fought to catch her breath. "It's...I..."_

_He looked just as lost as the rest of us._

_"It's nearly time, Micha." Gabriel whispered into my ear, invisible to the rest of the world, invisible even to me. _

**Peter POV**

This was it.

This was the end.

She was dying, leaving me here without her. She was dying, had been dying slowly as the seconds ticked by. She was dying and I could do nothing.

"There's still time," Carlisle whispered, as if the words hurt him, and I was sure they did. "We can still change her."

I watched her body seize; milky, blood-pinked foam bubbled from her mouth. I wanted it as I had all along, if not more so. I shook my head, holding back no sobs. The room was full of people, the goddamned past and present had collided. We were not alone, but it felt like only she and I.

Her death was ugly. It wasn't the peaceful entry into the Otherworld while one slept that you read about, or see in movies. Never speak ill of the dead, they say. That must include leaving out the part where they shit themselves. Esme wiped away the vomit and froth from Bella's mouth, but it seemed never ending. She coughed, sputtered, very much alive and very much dying.

Trembling fingers laced with mine. "Love," she said, choking and wheezing on the word. "Love you." The words were bloody, and shaking. It was her final goodbye.

_"Believe it, baby brother," _Gabriel whispered, like an angel in my ear. I nodded, maybe at Bella, maybe at him. He was there, as he said he was, and I couldn't hate him for that. His grace warmed me, kept me grounded in a time when all I wanted was to die.

And then the world went still.

I could see it, the stuttering of her chest as the last breath of air left her, consciousness slipping away. I watched the last moments of her life burn out, the abrupt and utter stillness of death. Her fingers went lax in mine, but I couldn't release her. Whether in body or in spirit, I'd cling to her forever.

Gabriel's grace shifted, like a gold-tinged tingle in the air. The vampires were restless with it, I could tell. They could feel it, like a warm morning on their skin. His grace shifted, and I knew why, as the gold stained black, a darker grace creeping in on me like a cold draft.

"What is that?" It was Edward who asked, eyes trained to the bed where Bella lay. He could see nothing, and neither could I. But we all felt it, and only I knew. "What is it?"

I am ashamed to admit in those moments the vampire in me took control of the reigns in a way that I hadn't allowed since first I was changed. There was no trace of Angel, only the sorrow of a man who had lost his love, and the fury of a vampire who needed revenge. And even though I couldn't see it, I could feel it. It was there, creeping in on Bella like the shadows stretching across the wall.

I _lunged_ at the nothing, pushing out my own mourning grace, feeble though it was, until it collided with the Darkness. I lunged, and felt my body connect just as I expected. Azrael stumbled, his physical-being forced into materialization by my body and my grace. "_Micha_," he growled. "You will not prevent her death again. You've done enough, Little Brother."

"You can't have her!" I was delirious, vicious with my anger. My fingers wrapped around his neck as I slammed him into the ground, pinning his form against the floor. "You can't take her!"

"She dead, Baby Brother! She's dead!" Azrael cried beneath me, as my nails tore into his borrowed flesh. "There is nothing left of her but Soul. You have to let me take her, don't let her soul stay trapped here."

"Her soul is _mine_!" I sobbed, ripping into him. "She's mine, she's _mine_!" He didn't fight me; he let me beat him to a bloody pulp, flesh splitting open beneath my fists. It was not until I lunged with my _mouth,_ fully ready to sink venom coated sin into an Angel, that I was stopped.

Where had the Angels been when _I'd_ met such a fate?

I fisted a hand into Azrael's wings, fully ready to rip them from his body, take away what was important to him as he intended to do so to me. But Gabriel was there, ready to strike. Sure hands pressed against my spine, tearing my wings from there iron confines. They did not shake, stretch free and tremble; they stayed tightly drawn to my body' The pain of my flesh numbed the pain of my heart. Gabriel hauled me backwards, slender arm wrapped tight around my waist as I struggled and snapped, reaching for Azrael, whose eyes were wide.

We were not alone, two and a half angels, and seven vampires in a penthouse hotel suite. I'd done something very bad, I was sure. The vampires were silent in there shock, staring at six out stretched fluttering wings.

The fight in me never left, but my strength was no match for that of Gabriel, an Arch Angel in his prime. He held me close, ignored my flailing, fighting limbs and whispered things into my ear. "I'm so proud of you," he said. "You will get through this, you are strong Little Brother."

"I can't," I cried, still reaching, still fighting. "I can't do this. I can't, I can't,_ I can't._"

"You can," Gabriel hushed. "You will for her."

Azrael did not look at me as his hand sank into Bella's body, tearing the soul from her form. Her soul was beautiful, just like I knew it would be. Azrael held it in his hand, and spared no passing glance as he evaporated; taking what was left of my existence with him.

My body fell limp in Gabriel's arms, and he lowered me at the bed side. She was dead; no heart beat fluttered against my ear where I lay my head upon her chest. She was fucking _dead_, and I wasn't and that didn't seem fair to me.

"Micha," Gabriel soothed. "Oh Micha."

"What are you?" Edward breathed the question, breaking the silence of my vampiric counter parts.

"Angels," Gabriel replied with ease, offering Edward a small smile. "Angels of the Lord."

"_God,_" Edward whispered, fingers clenching. "Oh my God."

"We call him Dad," Gabriel shrugged. He pushed his fingers through my feathers, petting me softly. "Come Little Brother, you can't do this. You can't give up."

"Peter is an Angel?" That was Jaspers voice, broken and torn. I was torturing him, tearing him apart with all I felt. "I...I changed an Angel?"

"Jasper..." It was the first word I'd said that wasn't screaming at Azrael since they'd arrived.

"No," Jasper said brokenly. "I did this to you."

"You are forgiven," Gabriel said at once. "For you regret every bite you took, and you repent and kill no more. Micha doesn't blame you, and neither does God."

"I was right," Carlisle breathed, sinking into a chair. He didn't sound smug, or proud or anything, just..._stunned._ "We can be forgiven."

Gabriel kneeled behind me, pressing against my wings as he soothed my broken heart the only way he knew. He laid his head upon my shoulder as he spoke to them, his fingers never leaving my limp wings. "God loves you very much, Carlisle. He is most proud of you."

"Oh," Esme said, swallowing back tears that could never fall. "_Oh._"

It was Edward who spoke next, voice full of cautious awe. "We're not monsters?" He asked. "We don't have to be? I...I've..."

"Even you can be forgiven, Edward." Gabriel assured him, and the relief in the air could be tasted, even over the sour blood. "You need only ask."

**xXxXxXx**

Gabriel stayed with me, even as the Cullens cleaned the catastrophic mess that death had left behind. He pried me from her body, pulling me along as the Paramedic came to collect her body, lifting her onto the gurney with methodical precision. Pulse was checked, eyelids closed, time of death called and recorded. How or what the Cullens said or did, I will never be sure, but they asked no questions. Carlisle flashed a card, listed of Bella's illnesses, and showed them the medication. Someone stripped the sheets away, replaced them with fresh ones, stealing away every tangible bloody fucking inch of proof that Bella died here in this bed, beside me.

It was Gabriel who peeled me from my post against the wall, stripped me bare and shoved me into the shower. He eased my wings back into there confines with gentle pressure, folding, pushing, pulling till the laws of physics were denied once again. He sluiced away the scent of Bella, the scent of blood and death, Downy softener and sex. It was all lost, lost in a bubbly pink swirl down the shower drain.

It was Gabriel who shoved me in the shower, but it was Jasper who eased me out. A brother on each arm, I was pulled off the shower-floor, naked, my pale body still soaked and foamy with cinnamon shampoo.

I didn't bother with clothes, didn't bother with pretending to blink or breath. I just fell into the freshly made bed, face pressed against the pillow. I fell and didn't move.

"Where are the others?" I asked, my words muffled by the new stupid, un-torn comforter. I wondered how much in damages we had racked up, and then I realized I didn't fucking care. Peen jumped on the bed, dragging with him something white and worn.

"Alice, Rose and Emmet went to arrange the cremation with a local funeral home. Bella's...she's being delivered there tonight. There won't be an autopsy; it's pretty clear what happened. I think that's where Carlisle is. Explaining the...the circumstances. Esme's probably with him," Jasper explained from the end of the bed. Gabriel was quiet, a strange occurrence.

Peen padded across the mattress, curling into a ball on my pillow. "What do you have there?" I asked, tugging the tattered white fabric from his mouth. He gave it up freely, butting his wet nose against my face, wrinkly naked skin warm against my own.

It was the Goonies shirt, the bible of memories still splattered with dark, dried blotches of blood. I sobbed into the pillow, shaking the entire frame until hot and cold hands pressed against me, a mixed chorus of soothing hushes and coos. My golden-haired brothers, so different and so much the same. I couldn't do this. I couldn't.

**xXxXxXx**

I didn't know when Gabriel left, but understood enough. He was an angel, with a job to do. He'd been there for me, as he said he would, when I needed him the most, and for that I was grateful.

Jasper came with me to the Funeral Home. It smelled like death; rank and disappointing. He waited in the front while I discussed Bella's options with the director. I'm her husband, I said. I'm so sorry for your loss, he said. She wanted to be cremated, I said. Very well, he said.

And that was it.

I watched her burn on that box, on that pyre. I watched from the cremation room, through the tiny four-inch window in the heavy iron door. I wasn't supposed to be in here, of course, and no one knew. The room was blazing, heat washing my skin. Orange red flames licked at her body, returning her to the earth. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Burning a body takes patience; the body is resistant, continues to fight long after death. I sat in the furnace room listening to the sizzle-pop of her skin for an hour and a half, with an hour to go, before I felt myself finally crack.

I think I would have done it, would have really pried open that fucking iron door and crawled inside and died beside her. I think I would have done if it hadn't been for Jasper, ghosting into the room, grasping me, pulling me back with every iota of strength I had.

"No, no," he said, pulling me back, away from the furnace. "Not like this, Peter. Not like this."

"It'd be so easy," I whispered.

"It isn't what she wanted," he said gently, pulling me out the door. Maybe watching her burn wasn't a good idea. Couldn't be healthy, couldn't be safe.

"What she wanted doesn't matter any more," I said flatly. "She's dead."

xXxXxXx

When at last we left an hour later, it was with a heavy soapstone box, ornately carved, with hidden hinges and an intricate lock. It could have been Tupperware, for all I cared. It was Bella; all that remained of her, anyway.

I clutched it to my chest, as Jasper shoved me into his truck. Where was my truck? Where were my things? More importantly, where were Bella's things?

Where the fuck was my cat?

"Peen," I said, quietly, a mumbled broken word, but Jasper understood. He opened the cab-doors, fishing out my wrinkly mess of a companion. One hand still curled around the box, I took Peen into my lap, holding them both just a little too tightly against me as we drove.

It was all I had left.

**A/N I swear that this is the end of total heart-fail chapters okay? Just...bear with me. I'm going somewhere with this.**


	29. Skypire

**Once Bitten Twice Shy Chapter 29/30**

**Author:** Lifelesslyndsey

**Category:** Twilight

**Pairing: **Bella x Peter

**Summary: **Clinging to Angel ideals, trapped in a vampire body, with very human urges. He was very confused. Peter was an indecisive vampire with an identity crisis. Bella was jaded and self-isolated. In short they were perfect for each other.

**Rating**: Mature audiences only for Language & Lemons

**Word Count:** 4,035

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

Beta'd by me, but that may change. Who knows.

**A/N This one doesn't end in heartfail, promise. I cannot, however, promise that the end isn't anti-climactic. **

**Previously on this fucking soap opera of a fic, **

_I clutched it to my chest, as Jasper shoved me into his truck. Where was my truck? Where were my things? More importantly, where were Bella's things?_

_Where the fuck was my cat?_

_"Peen," I said, quietly, a mumbled broken word, but Jasper understood. He opened the cab-doors, fishing out my wrinkly mess of a companion. One hand still curled around the box, I took Peen into my lap, holding them both just a little too tightly against me as we drove._

_It was all I had left_

**And now. PeterPOV**

"Where are we going?" I asked, as the Indiana border shrank in the rear-view mirror.

"Where ever you want to," Jasper replied quietly, both hands wrapped around the steering wheel. "Alice saw that you would go to Forks. I thought I could take you there."

"Okay," I replied, just as quiet, while wondering why we were whispering. I imagined it had something to with me, and the look Jasper was giving me. A look you'd give a lost-child, or a wounded animal. Don't scare it, it'll run.

It was surprisingly fitting.

Jasper said nothing else, but continued to quietly leech away any emotion I was feeling, as he had been for the past half hour, leaving me a docile husk in the passenger seat. It didn't leave me feeling good. I didn't feel light. I felt empty.

I accepted it wordlessly; he was doing what he could. I wasn't sure I had it in me to fight it anyway.

We were nowhere near Forks; the thousand mile stretch of highway might as well have been a million, for all it was spent in aching silence. Jasper stopped for gas, letting Peen relieve himself in the tiny half-dead stretches of grass beside the pumps. It hurt to watch, remembering floppy lace-less purple Converse, and Peen's makeshift leash. Everything reminded me of her.

Bella was right. She was everywhere.

Raindrops splashed against the windshield, leaving blurry smears of rainbow-water across the glass, quickly pushed away by the wiper blades. "Are you going back?" Jasper asked, somewhere outside of Cherry Falls, North Dakota. "To Heaven, I mean."

"Angels don't go to Heaven," I replied, my voice low and even. I was inadvertently being hypnotized into a trance by the wiper-blades. Back and forth. Swoosh-swoosh. I didn't mind; I welcomed the distraction. "We go to the Host."

"Oh," Jasper said quietly, as miles of white road-side lines disappeared behind us. "Are you going back to the Host then?"

I hugged the little box harder against me, my nails cutting crescent-moons into its smooth cool surface. "No."

"I think you should." Jaspers eyes flickered toward me, a stealthy move to gauge my reaction.

"You'll never see me again," I informed him. In light of total and utter travesty, I had forgotten the excitement of finding my brother. "They aren't my family. They...I'm not an angel, Jasper. I'm not an Angel any more, and I..." I hate them. For doing this to me.

He licked his lips, a nervous habit that had seemed to last the decades since last I saw him. "You don't really belong here, though," he said. "You...I trapped you here."

And maybe he did, but I would never regret it, not with the memory of a living, breathing Bella still fresh in my mind. "You made me real," I replied, words forming before I really understood them. "You made me tangible, touchable. You gave me a life before I knew what it was like to live, Jasper. I don't regret it. You...you gave me the closest thing to humanity I'll ever know."

"I just...if I hadn't..." His words were stuttered, stilted, broken. Very much like how I felt.

"I loved her," I said. "And without you, I'd have never known what that felt like."

"It is better to have loved then lost, than to never have loved at all?" he asked in proverb, and I only could nod.

There was no segue, no gentle introduction into the following subject; I simply said it, and did not know why. "I was sent to kill you."

"What?"

"Well not you. Maria," I reiterated. "Vampires were created with the sole purpose of altering the fate of the living, of God's most beloved creation. Vampires they don't...it isn't that we don't have a fate. It's that it isn't known. Because we are essentially evil. So, it was my job as an Angel, as Micha, to kill vampires. Obviously I couldn't kill them all; just the ones who were altering fate to the extent that it was affecting the Path. Maria's army was obliterating huge chunks of fate, killing thousands, and turning hundreds. Fate didn't see you though, couldn't see you, maybe. You were exactly the kind of curve-ball Heaven feared."

"I knew there was something different about you," Jasper admitted. "Your emotions, even now...they don't feel like anything I've ever experienced. It isn't that they are dull, but kind of...echoed, some how. It's hard to explain, but I knew you were different. The way you smelled, the way you tasted. You didn't...nothing. You didn't taste like _anything_."

"Which is most likely why I have no scent," I agreed. "Why it's physically impossible to detect my presence before seeing or hearing me. There are often Angels hidden in the wings. Like you saw with Azrael."

"That was Death?" Jasper asked with obvious awe. "You...you don't ever think how real those things are."

"Azrael is an asshole. He always has been. Not that...not that I should have done what I did...I..." I shook my head, forcing some semblance of my usual calm. "I could have trapped Bella's soul on Earth...and...that's just... But he's always been a jerk. He has some serious power issues. Thinks because he collects souls, he's better then the rest of us. I controlled fucking Destiny for fuck's sake; he was just the fucking collection crew."

"They're your brothers, right?" Jasper questioned. "That's how you look at each other?"

"The Angel collective is often referred to as the Brotherhood. There are no female Angels," I replied, finding comfort in the abstract discussion that was very much about nothing and everything at the same time. It wasn't about Bella, and that mattered.

"They all...uh. They all kind of look..."

"Girly but not?" I supplied. "Technically, they're not male either. They don't even have junk, Jasper. Smooth as a baby's bottom down there. Waking up with a dick was a weird experience." There should have been laughter, his or mine, at that, but there wasn't.

"They're androgynous, really. When I came to earth, I could have just as easily have been sent as a female. Were it any other kind of job, I might have been. But I needed strength and size on my side, so I was given a male form. I didn't look much different then I do now, less defined. Softer."

"Gabriel looks like..."

"You?" I smiled, a small shard of what it could have been, what it was once, not so long ago. "Yeah. I thought so too."

Jasper was quiet then, minutes ticking into hours, as we passed border after border, the sun finally setting beneath the horizon. One day faded into the next, and then another. I didn't even know what day it was. Monday, Tuesday, they were all the same to me. The silence couldn't last, it never did.

"What's God like?"

I looked up from where I had been staring at my feet. "What?"

"What's God like?" Jasper asked again.

"I...uh." I blinked, because...being asked to explain God was like being asked to swim upstream. You could try, try your hardest, but you'd never get anywhere. "He's big. Loud...I think. I can never tell. Normally, I just hear him in my head. He's more forgiving then people realize." I held up Peen, his tiny purring body cupped in my hands. "He obviously has a sense of humor."

"Have you like...met him?"

"God? Uh...You can't really meet Him. I mean, He's just...He isn't a man, really. He's mostly...just there. In my head maybe, it's hard to tell. But He's...well He's my father. I don't know if He's like other fathers, but He loves us. God kind of _is_ love, so that's a given. When I was younger, He told us stories. About humans, and creation, and love. Taught us to love all His creatures equally, taught us kindness _and_ indifference. Taught us to watch. He was...He was always there."

"And...and when you were changed?"

"I didn't just lose God, I lost myself," I said sadly. "Lost...everything. I couldn't hear them, but sometimes if I tried I could hear...well. Fate. That's how I knew things, in the army. It's like a radio, in my head. But it's on AM, so most of what you hear is white-noise and shit you can't understand, or don' t care about."

** xXxXxXx**

I could hear the ocean waves crashing into the beach somewhere, and the air tasted like salt, just as I remembered it. It hadn't stopped raining, every drop falling from the sky and smacking into the earth so hard I could hear it. One after another, they fell, smearing across my face like tears. I closed my eyes against the rainbows, didn't want to remember the way they'd clung to Bella's lashes as she smiled and told me she believed in God.

Jasper cut the engine, and we sat in silence. "Bella gave me the keys," he said quietly, dropping said keys into my hand. "I think you should go back to Hea...the Host, Peter."

"I only just found you," it hurt to say. Hurt to voice the fact I was going to lose everything I ever had all at once.

"You're...you're not a vampire, Peter. You're an_ Angel_, and you don't belong here. I wish I could have known you...as you are now. But I've always looked at you like a brother, and always loved you. I want you to be happy. Go home, Peter."

"It won't make me happy."

Jasper frowned, and it aged him. It was easy to forget in the face of the perpetually-seventeen that they'd seen more than many a man. Jasper had been a vampire longer than I, if not by much, but he'd lived it, perhaps harder then I had. And even though I was older, Jasper had _lived_ far longer then I had.

"I could stay," he offered.

"Take your own advice, brother," I replied quietly, my hand already curling around the door handle. "Go home."

**xXxXxXx**

The house was as I remembered it, a tiny two-story thing, with faded yellow shuttered windows. The bushes had been trimmed neat, and the grass mowed. Probably someone from the Pack, I thought. They loved Bella. I wonder if they knew? Would someone have told them? Jacob's words echoed in the back of my mind.

Fuck. She'd told him, that day. She'd told him that the medicine wasn't working, and that she wasn't sure she was going to make it. And he'd begged her, hadn't he? Begged her to _let me change her_. It all made sense now. It made so much sense. _It doesn't have to be this way_, he'd said. _You'd always be welcome here_, he'd said.

_'One day, she's gonna leave us both.'_

I didn't go home, like Jasper had suggested. I didn't even know how to go home, had I wanted to. There was no spreading of wings, and shining rays of light leading me towards the sky. Instead I sank onto the tiny couch in the tiny living room, curled into a pathetic ball, clutching the fucking Goonies shirt in one hand, and Bella's urn in the other. Peen curled into my side, and somewhere in my mind I realized I hadn't fed him in two days. I needed to feed him. I needed to get up off this couch.

I didn't though.

It had been five days since Bella had died.

Five days since I stopped living.

"Gabriel?" I called, but Gabriel didn't come.

For the first time since I met Bella, I was alone.

Days and nights melted together, the lines of reality and time blurring. I didn't leave the house, or the living room, glued permanently to my perch on the couch, until my joints and muscles grew stiff from non-movement. I sat so still I could feel the world spinning, spinning me with it. Shafts of light shifted through the blinds, painting lines across the baby-blue carpet. They came, and they went, and I was sure that meant something. Time was lost on me. Everything was lost on me.

The duffle bags were still beside the door where Jasper had left them; where Jasper had left them when he left, because I asked him to.

He'd have stayed and suffered at my side, I was sure of it. But as fast as I was falling, I couldn't pull him down with me.

**xXxXxXx**

Peen's warmth had disappeared, and I hoped that he was out somewhere, foraging for food. I was a statue, sprawled out and dead across the living room floor, where I had fallen, maybe five or six hours ago. I couldn't get up, couldn't right myself. I didn't even know what day it was. I didn't even know how long it had been since...

"Peter?" It was Jacob. I could see his copper colored bare feet, toes dug into the plush carpet. He smelled worse than usual and I wondered if it was raining. "Jesus, Peter." Something fell to the floor, a stack of envelopes. They scattered across the floor as he knelt before me.

Jesus wasn't here. That little bastard had been pretty much absentee for the last century. Not that he didn't deserve the break, or whatever.

"Come on, Peter." Warm hands eased their way beneath my arms, hauling me up effortlessly. He eased me gently back onto the couch, ignoring the awkward popping of my stiff limbs. "That's it, come on."

"Jacob." The word was rough, tearing out of my throat in rasp. I swallowed, working the venom across my mouth. "Jacob." It didn't help. I sounded like shit.

"Jesus Christ," Jacob said, crouching before me. "When was the last time you fed?"

Honestly? I didn't fucking know. "I don't know." I didn't even know what fucking day it was.

"Your eyes are like...flat black," he replied. "Was...was it before?"

"Yes." I blinked, holding the heavy box harder against me, till the soft-stone threatened to break.

Jacob breathed, falling back on his haunches. "Is that..."

"Yes."

He swallowed, nodding hard. "She...the cliff. She wants the cliff right?"

"Yes."

"She asked me to...she wrote me a letter and asked me to let you pass. As my right as Chief of the Quileute Tribe of La Push, you are welcomed on our sacred grounds as husband of our Honorary Sister, Isabella Swan. You may come and go freely." Jacob paused. "I trust that you won't hurt my people. Bella wanted the cliffs, and she wanted you, and if I can give her nothing, I can give her that. Come...come when you're ready." His eyes were full of tears, heavy drops clinging to his lashes. "I...I have to get back to Leah now. But...you're always welcome in our home Peter."

I nodded, feeling new sobs rise in my throat. He seemed to understand, letting himself out as we both began to cry. It was a touching sentiment, really, his trust in me and in Bella.

It made me ache.

I stared at the floor, where letters were scattered, long white envelops filled with whatever some one would send to a house where no one lives. A wide, orange envelope caught my eye, Peter M. Legion scrawled across the front in neat curved letters. I plucked it off the carpet with shaking hands, tearing at the opening.

Pictures spilled out, one after another, brightly colored 4x5 pieces of history painted across the carpet. Our history, written in road side attractions. The biggest pit in the world, the twine-ball, the torture-house, the rickety old dinosaurs. There we were, happy smiling faces staring up at me. I picked the one closest, where her mouth was pressed against my cheek, atop a garish purple dinosaur, as we blinded ourselves with a flashbulb. That had been a good day.

"Gabriel."

He didn't answer.

It was too much, and the house was too small, swallowing me whole with its neutral-toned painted walls. I had to see her again. Even if it was just once. Even if it would rip out the remainder of my heart. It didn't matter, it belonged to her anyway. I had to get home. I had to...just...I had no idea how. Was it too late? Had I spurned my welcome?

"Gabriel?"

Silence.

With Bella in hand; a box, a shirt, and one happy photo, I bolted out of the house, feet tearing through the back door till I felt the ground soften beneath my feet, layers of soggy dead leaves coating the ground.

"Gabriel!"

I didn't know where I was going as I ran through the rain, hundreds of tiny rainbows lighting my way. I weaved through the trees with my heart in my throat, stumbling to a stop on a cliff top.

The cliff top.

Rocks crumbled at my feet, where the tips of my boots overlapped the edge by inches. "I want to come home!" I cried out, against the wind. "Gabriel!"

_"Then you must fly, Little Brother," _Gabriel called, his voice booming like thunder. The waves crashed harder against the beach as the storm rolled in on an Angels wings. _"Let Bella go, Peter, and fly. You know the way." _

My wings tore free as if they were beckoned, shredding through my flesh and my shirt. I growled, snarling through the pain, but it was carried away by the roar of the ocean beneath me. I let go of the picture first, followed by the shirt. I watched them flitter away until the waves swallowed them down.

The box trembled in my hands as I flipped the tiny latch. The effect was almost instant, wind catching the dust in a whirling spiral, sprinkling my Bella across the ocean. Millions and millions of pieces of my heart flew across the sunrise, and I opened my wings and followed them.

**xXxXxXx**

I didn't crash into the waves as I had expected, but I didn't fly either. The sensation was like falling up and down all at once. I woke up sprawled out across white fluff, wings stretched out as far as they could reach beneath me.

Brown eyes stared down at me, mouth curved into a smile. "Bella?"

"You've kept me waiting a long time, Peter."

I sat up slowly, staring round in wonder. "We're on a cloud. Heaven really is full of fluffy fucking clouds?" I asked, incredulous through my disorientation.

Bella shrugged, sinking down beside me on the cloud. In her arms she held Peen, his regular purring, wrinkling mess.

"Did I kill him?" I asked abruptly. "I didn't feed him! He starved to death."

Bella laughed, a tinkling brilliant sound that erupted all around me. "No, you didn't kill Peen. He isn't really a cat, now is he?"

"They told you that?" I asked, looking around for one of my brothers. "Where is every one?"

"It's just us," Bella replied, laying her head upon my shoulder. I turned, burying my face in her hair. The scent was bittersweet; a reminder of what wasn't mine any more.

"I wanted to tell you," I replied quietly. "They wouldn't let me."

She shrugged, turning to kiss my cheek. "Faith isn't faith if you have proof. I had to believe without knowing. Just like you did."

"But I did know."

She smiled, shaking her head. "But you didn't."

"I knew that God was real," I replied, wondering if maybe this wasn't Bella, or Heaven at all, but a proof that I'd really and truly lost my fucking mind.

"Do you trust me?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "Even now, after all this? Do you trust that God has a plan for me, even after death?"

"I..." That had always sparked a sort of repressed interest in me, even when I was nothing but an Angel. I had always wondered what happened after, for the known Fate ended with Death, but we'd always known there was more. "Yes. Yes I do."

"And even though you don't know what it is, you know that God loves me, like he loves you?" she asked. "That whatever comes after this, it's worth it?"

"I trust God," I replied and it pained me to say it. Because even though it hurt losing her, I knew that God _loved_ her.

"You have Faith," she explained, nudging Peen out of her lap. "You just had to find it. You had to let me die, Peter. You had to let me go. Sacrifice is a sure way to get into Heaven."

"I don't belong in Heaven," I replied, pulling her close. I wasn't sure how long our time would last, but I planned on making the most of it. "And what did I sacrifice?"

She gave me a wry smile. "Don't think that I don't know. I didn't then, but I do now. You would have sacrificed your soul, your _grace_ for me."

"But I didn't. You died." It hurt to say.

"So instead of sacrificing your grace so that I could live, you sacrificed your love so that I could die." She smiled. "And God is grateful. Letting me die was harder than letting me live. You did not choose the easy path. You gave up _yourself_ for me."

"And I'd do it again," I replied in earnest. "I'd tear of my fucking wings for you, Bella."

"Because you love me," she replied as if it was an answer. "You love _me. _Not as a Vampire loves its mate, though some do love them deeply. And not as an Angel loves all things. You love me as a man loves a woman. You love me like a human loves. Humans go to Heaven, Peter."

"I'm not human," I whispered.

"And yet, here you are." She smiled, and linked our hands, pulling me up to a stand. "Gabriel told me something very interesting."

"You met my brother?"

"Yes, I did. I'm very sorry about the feather thing, by the way." She laughed, pulling me across the cloud. None of this seemed real, and I was _well_ versed in the Unreal. "Anyway, he said that religion, and belief, and the world? It's not like an ant hill at all."

"I thought it was an apt description, to be honest," I replied, with an awkward shrug. I had the strangest sensation that I was speaking Enochian, and that she could understand. It was disconcerting.

"Yes, well. Anyways, he said it wasn't like an ant hill. He said it was more like Monopoly."

"The game?"

"Yes the game," she replied, peering over the clouds edge.

"What does that matter?" I asked, pulling her from the edge. I didn't know how Heaven worked, but I'd had enough jumping of edges for the day.

"It matters more than you know. Gabriel told me that the World was like Monopoly, so I asked God for a re-roll."

I laughed. "Like our first kiss."

"Mmhm, yes. And just like you, God said yes."

"What?" I held back as she tugged on my arm. "What?"

"Re-roll, Peter. We get to do it over. We get to go back."

"I can't go back. I'm an Angel. We don't go back." I said, eyes wide as Bella danced at the clouds edge, our fingers still linked. Her brown hair fell like a curtain as she tilted her head.

She looked back at me, eyes sparkling in Heavens light. "Where are your wings, Peter?" she asked. "Angels have wings."

I rolled my shoulders, expecting to feel the familiar weight, but nothing came. There was no flutter, no out stretched of feathers. They were gone. They were _fucking _gone. "Holy shit!"

Bella laughed loudly, nodding back behind her towards Peen. "Thank your father, and let's go. We have a life to live."

"Wait!" I said, but she didn't. "Wait! Wait? Peen's God?"

Bella smiled, shrugging her tiny shoulders, as she stepped over the edge, pulling me with her, back to Earth.

** -End**


	30. Epipire

** Gabriel's POV**

He was six years old when he met the love of his life, the reason of his very being. Sandboxes are good places to meet girls when you're a six year old. She had hair the color of chocolate-milk syrup and eyes to match.

"That's a really ugly cat," she said, pointing to Pennington in his lap. He was the weird hairless kitten his weird hairless aunt had given him when he turned four. He tried to tell her that cats were for girls and babies, but she didn't listen. She said he was still a baby in her eyes.

"He's not ugly. He's naked," he said, with all the indignance of a six year old. He wasn't a baby anymore; six is a lot older than four, but he liked Pennington anyway. Pennington was his friend, so of course he had to defend him. But he couldn't hit her, because his Daddy said you never hit girls. "You're ugly."

"My mom says I'm a hot mess," the girl agreed, with a sigh. "He should wear clothes, it's a rule. My mom says you have to wear clothes in public. I don't like it, but she says that it'ss a rule, and you have to follow them, I guess."

"I like my clothes," the little boy replied defensively, tugging at the straps of his denim overalls. "My mom bought them."

"Moms do that," the girl replied knowledgeably. "Whenever I try to pick my own clothes out, my mom makes me change. She said that I don't understand _color cord-nation_. Whatever that is. She still lets me pick out my socks though." As if to prove this, she wiggled her brightly colored toe socks in her equally bright orange flip-flops.

"They look like rainbows," he replied awkwardly. He was new in town, and didn't know anybody. It's hard being six and having no friends; and it's not even school time, so he doesn't even have class. Not that he likes class. But he likes friends. And now he doesn't have any, because Dad said they had to move. He'd been mad for a _whole week._

She smiled, all dimples and gapped baby-teethed. "I love rainbows!" She looked at her hand, before wiping it off on her shirt, leaving behind a smear of something sticky and of an indeterminable color, before proffering it to the little boy. "I'm Anna Belle."

"I'm Michael," he replied. "But you don't have to call me that. You can call me Mikey."

"Mikey's a good name," Anna Bell agreed, sinking down into the sand. "My mom calls me Anna Belle Elizabeth Crane, but only when she's mad, cause' that's all of my names together. But you can just call me Anna. Or Bell. Whatever."

He wasn't going to tell her that his name was Michael Peter Nation, because Shirley Summers from pre-school in his old town said that Peter was a private-part word, and he didn't want his only friend here to make fun of him. "My mom calls me Michael but I hate it, cause that's my dads name, and we get confused."

"I can see how that would happen." Anna Belle nodded solemnly. "There's two Anna's and a Bella in my class, and it's real dumb cause' when the teacher calls on me they all answer. But I'm way cooler then them, cause' I have two first names."

"I just have the one," he said self-consciously. He didn't want her to not be his friend any more, because he didn't pick his name. He_ didn't!_

She stared for a moment, pushing back her tangled bangs before shrugging her shoulders. "You're okay though. Is your cat gonna poop in here, cause' that would be really gross, and I'd probably have to leave."

"Why would Pennington poop in the sandbox?" Mikey asked, truly bewildered.

Anna Belle shrugged again, grabbing one of the plastic shovels his mom had bought him _'to encourage out-door activities'_. "I don't know. My friend Andrea has a cat named Lacy, and it poops in this little tiny sand box in her house. It's really gross."

"That's a litter box," I replied. "It's not the same thing."

"Oh good. Hey do you want some gum?" she asked, spitting a wad of sticky gum into her hand.

Mikey sighed. "My mom says that I'm not allowed to have gum. She says it'll rot my teeth out."

Anna Belle rolled her eyes. "Yeah but we have all those other teeth, so it's okay. Here!" She tore the gum in half, stretch strands sticking to her fingers. "Open your mouth."

He did as he was told, but mostly cause' she kind of scared him. It didn't have much flavor, but he chewed it anyway, eyeing her warily as she popped her half back into her mouth.

"That's _so_ gross," Anna Belle laughed. "I like you, Mikey. Can I touch your ugly cat?"

"His name is Pennington, and he's not ugly," he replied. "Yeah, okay I guess."

She squealed out a tiny giggle as she pinched his wrinkles softly between her fingers, and scratched between his ears. "That is so _gross_!"

He was six years old and she was already the most beautiful person he had ever met.

He didn't know it then, but he was going to marry that girl.

She'd push him down for the first time by the swing-set when they were seven, and he'd kiss her for the first time by the merry-go-round when they were eight. They'd get in their first real fight by the monkey bars, in the tenth grade. Twenty-two years after they met in that sand-box, she'd ask him to marry her.

And it wouldn't be the first time.

**-End**

Letters From Bella

_**My darling Jacob and more darling Leah, **_

_When I look at you tw,o I know what it is to be truly happy. The love you share, it's almost too much. Never have I had more wonderful friends. Jacob, you took a broken girl and put her back together. Leah, sister of my heart, you were my fellow member of the Heartbroken Heartbreaker's club. When I was sure no one could understand the pain I felt, you were there, comrade in arms. _

_Some of the best chapters in my life are written about you. I know it isn't saying much, what with the way I am, but I wouldn't be the woman I am today, if it weren't for you two. You made my world beautiful when all I ever saw was rain. I love you both, and wish you the world. _

_You were my best friends, and even death can't change that. _

_**-Bella**_

_**P.S.**__ I wrote this before I knew what it was to be truly happy all on my own. If the love you two share is half as wonderful as the love I share with Peter, then I'm going to die the happiest post-mortem Go mother ever. Give that baby a kiss for me every single day. _

**xXxXxXx**

_**To My Boys,**_

_No tears for me please, don't start acting like women on my account. _

_There are so many things I'd like to say to you, things I never got the chance to say. Things that were said without words, but bear repeating. _

_You are my family, the only family I ever really had. You took care of me when there was no one else, picked me up and set me right. I tested you, pushed, you and pulled you to pieces, but you were always there. _

_There were times when it looked dark, but I had more sun in my life than any girl deserves. You boys, my boys. The world's a better place because of you. _

_Don't cry for me. Remember me if you must, but please don't cry_. _ I love you all. _

_**-Bella**_

_**xXxXxXx**_

_**Kelly, **_

_I really hope you don't send this letter to an editor, or have it published for an asinine amount of money. Dude, class: get some. Anyway, I just want you to know that you were never just my publisher; you've always been my friend. I'm pretty sure if I was so sick I couldn't wipe my own ass, you'd wipe it for me, if it meant I could bust out another chapter. But no, really. Thank you for always caring, and for never questioning the limits of my bone-deep paranoia. You always made sure I was taken care of, pushed me when I needed to be pushed, and listened when all I needed to do was talk. Even if all I had to talk about was the economical infrastructure of the banana import industry. That was the day we learned that the green pills and the blue pills did not mix well. _

_I love you, you little grammar nazi._

_May you continue to make ass-loads of money from me post-mortem. _

_**-Bella**_

**xXxXxXx**

_**Dear Dr. Kipslin,**_

_You've been my therapist for several years now, and have helped me through so much. I know you never really thought I needed the medication, and maybe if I had listened to you earlier, I wouldn't have been so lost. Anyways, I just wanted you to know that you helped pull me back from the brink, and I am thankful for that. Also Dr. Alexander is a stupid shit head that doesn't deserve his PhD in psychiatry. Just saying. _

_**-Bella Swan**_

**xXxXxXx**

_**Dear Dr. Alexander,**_

_Vampires are so fucking real. _

_**-Bella Swan**_

**xXxXxXx**

_**Dear Mom and Phil,**_

_I don't know if I'll get to say goodbye like a daughter should. The years have not been kind on our relationship, but no matter what was said or done, I'll always love you both. _

_I know I put you two through hell, ran you through the ringer and back. It's a wonder you've stuck by me all these years, as bull headed as I can be. You know I get it from my mom, Phil. _

_If I haven't told you, I want you to know that I love you. You were the best mother I could have ever wished for Mom, you taught me things most kids couldn't understand. The world may have been an oyster, but you taught me to find the pearl. _

_Phil, I couldn't have asked for a better man for my mother. I take comfort in the fact that I know she'll always be taken care of, always be loved. _

_**-Bella**_

_**P.S**__. I wrote this before we visited. If it wasn't for Peter, I might have never said good bye. I want you to know that with him I found the love of my life. Know that I was happier than I have ever been. I've attached a letter for Jamie, I want him to have it. _

_**xXxXxXx**_

**Jamie, **

_Baby brother. That's what you are, you know? I'm sorry I wasn't a better sister, but I never really felt like I could do the job the justice it deserved. I was mistaken. I know that I hardly know you, but I love you, and I wish there had been more time. But I do know that you're the best little brother I could ever hope for. _

_**-Bella**_

**xXxXxXx**

**Dear Cullen Collective, **

_I'm dying. From a blood disease. Ironic, right? I don't have much more time before Peter comes back from getting the clean blankets and water I asked for. I need you to send these letters, Carlisle. There's an open envelope attached with flash-disk and a letter. It's got all the pictures from our trip on it. Develop them, and send them to Peter at the Forks house, along with his letter, please. _

_I have to go. _

_I forgive you, and love you in my own way. _

_**-Bella**_

_**xXxXxXxXx**_

**Dear Peter,**

_I don't have much time to write this, I know you won't stay gone long. Don't lose faith Peter, even after I'm gone. Our love won't die, just because I did, and neither should your hope. You were always my Angel, don't stop now. _

_**-Bella**_

_**-End.**_

_**A/N** I just want to thank the amazing Beta who made this story worth reading. I probably wouldn't have half of you reading and reviewing if it wasn't for her. So, much love to VampishVixen, who helped make Peter and Bella what they were._

_ALSO! 10/14_

Once Bitten, Twice Shy has been nominated for two awards in the GLOSP Awards, and I've been nominated *blushes* for best author. Which is so freaking cool. I don't think I deserve best author, but it would be neat to see OBTS take home some cake, you know? So if you all could check it out and vote for me, that would be awesome. www (.) glospawards (.) blogspot (.) com/


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